Take These Broken Wings
by Sinister Spiders
Summary: The war is over and everyone Ginny cares about is gone. Severus Snape is left to help her pick up the pieces of her life and move on- but little does he know that in helping her, he is also helping himself.
1. The Beggining of an End

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter One:** The Beginning of the End

Ginevra Weasley walked down what used to be the pathway that led to Godric's hollow with tears streaming down her face. The pavement was now all broken and jagged; no doubt smashed apart by curses and hexes too numerous to name, too horrible to think about. She around the once green garden of the place Harry had called home for a short six months. It was now littered with slowly decaying corpses, covered in a thin layer of blood-stained snow. If she squinted she could pretend that it was the poppies breaking through the snow in the spring time. But she knew better than that. There was no use pretending. It was over.

Hogwarts had managed to stay open after Dumbledore's death, and for some it was a place of refuge from the war and the outside world. Many of her friends had lost someone in their family in one attack or another. Ginny had lost her family to the Order of the Phoenix. Towards the end the war had consumed them, they didn't have the time to talk to one another about happier times, they could only speak hushed words of warning about the week to come.

Harry was a different story though. He had made time for her, even in the most desperate moments. His search for the Horcruxes begun in his seventh year of Hogwarts, taking him away from the school for much of the year, but when he returned he would always spend time with her. After Dumbledore's funeral Harry had time to think about their relationship, and with a little coaxing from Ginny, he was convinced that everybody needed something. What he needed was Ginny and her love. Ginny was only too happy to reciprocate, and soon every moment spent in his presence became her life. She was dependent on him for comfort, for information, for hope and for a future. Everyday they had spent with each other had been spent well, knowing that life was dispensable and that each hour could be their last.

She opened the heavy oak door and stepped through the threshold, a cold shiver running through her as memories flooded back. She looked over to the red lounge in the parlor and closed her eyes. Her memory taking her back to three months ago, when she and Harry were sitting on the lounge together after reading her N.E.W.T's report and talking about the way they wanted their life to be.

"Ginny," Harry said, giving her a small kiss on the lips and smiling at her as she looked into his eyes.

"Yes?" She replied, nuzzling her head into his neck and wrapping her arms around him. He shifted and fished around in his pocket for a moment. He pulled his hand out, and what he was holding was well concealed in his tightly clenched fist.

"I was just wondering… after this damned war is over…" His fingers opened slowly to reveal a simple gold ring with a diamond in it. Ginny looked at him and he smiled at her. There was no need to say any more.

"Yes Harry!" Ginny said softly, unable to contain her happiness, "Yes!" He slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her deeply.

Back in the harsh world of reality Ginny wiped her tears away angrily. This wasn't the time for dreaming, and she had a job to do. She turned towards the stairs at the far end of the room and took a deep breath before putting her right foot in front of her left and continuing the painstaking journey to where she had to go. Up the first step, then the second, the third, fourth, fifth and so on, each one bringing back another happy memory, reminding her of how it would never be possible for her to have them again. When she reached the first landing, she allowed herself to take a look at the ring Harry had placed on her finger when three months earlier, not knowing if she would ever be able to take it off. She didn't want too, and Merlin knew she would never have to. She doubted that she would ever be able to be in love now that Harry was gone. To Ginny, Harry was love. He was the human embodiment of a heavenly emotion that she had given her soul to.

Up another staircase now, and on the landing, walking down the corridor to Harry's room. Ginny had to tread carefully to avoid stepping on or over the dead bodies, her mind filled with hatred and despair at the same time. Death Eaters and members of the Order were strewn over the carpet that led to Harry's room - disfigured, dismembered and dead. Now came the most painful part. She reached out and touched the door of Harry's room. It was slightly ajar, and all it needed was a tiny push to open it. It felt as though it was made out of lead. It took all of her strength to open the door to what had been Harry's room, the room his mother died in… The room Voldemort had died in… The room Harry had died in. Ginny collapsed to the ground as she saw the corpses, the tears flowing more freely than they ever had, her heart aching like it had never ached before.

He looked so peaceful, like he was sleeping. If she touched him he would wake up. He would breath again, love again. She crawled over to him desperately, and placed her hands on his shoulders, shaking him slightly, silently begging him to wake up. It was no use, she knew it, but she had to try. Despair gave way to anger and she brought her fists down to collide with his chest, a loud scream tearing from her lips, tears splashing down onto his face. Her body fell on top of Harry's and she continued to cry.

After what seemed like an eternity of torment, Ginny sat up and looked through the window. The dusk sun spread a pink light over the room. She wiped the tears away and remembered that she had a job to do. She looked at Harry's face. She brought her index finger up to trace the lightning bolt scar on his head, then down to his lips, in a slow, remembering caress. She leant down and kissed his lips, cold and lifeless.

"I love you Harry…." She whispered softly, her breath loosing its warmth on his pallid face. She reached deep into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small, stag-shaped silver paper weight. She placed it on his chest and whispered an incantation, his body faded away slowly. She stood up and looked around the room, a pile of acid-green muck not too far from where Harry's body had been. That was not her problem. She had no desire to go near that. She turned around to see another corpse, another one of her closest friends.

Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley had fought with Harry until the end. Hermione died before Harry, or so Ginny was told. She was lucky; her death was quick and provided Harry with the time he needed to destroy the last Horcrux. When she fell, so did Ron's sanity. Seeing the woman he loved die at the hand of Voldemort hit him worse than the curse that the Dark Lord sent his way. Hermione was the lucky one; she died swiftly, without pain. Ron, however… He was now left a ward in Saint Mungo's, loneliness and madness eating away at him, assisted by the curse Voldemort had placed on him.

Ginny walked over to Hermione's body and squatted beside her best friend. She gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before taking another object out of her pocket, a fine eagle-feather quill. She placed it in the hollow between Hermione's breasts and whispered the incantation. Hermione's body slowly disappearing before her, as had Harry's, as would the members of the Order who fell on that fatal night.

Ginny repeated the same process for many more people, some she did not know, some she was familiar with, and some she would mourn for the rest of her life.

She was alone. She no longer had her family. The only members of her family who had survived were now in mental health wards at magical hospitals, with little to no chance of recovery. Charlie and Percy had died early on in the night, hit by the first curse Voldemort had uttered. Bill fell not too long afterwards, killed by Bellatrix Lestrange. Fred and George were kept alive and tortured to the point of insanity, when they turned on Molly and Arthur Weasley with the intent to kill. Thankfully for her parents, they were distracted by curses shot at them by Death Eaters. They turned, but were too slow to dodge the second round of curses sent at them by Mancair. Molly Weasley died after her four sons, and Ginny had no doubt that her mother had tried to protect them. When the war moved into the house and Voldemort, Harry, Ron and Hermione made it to Harry's room, Molly tried to make it up the stairs to help the young adults who she believed were her children, but she was pulled down by Lucius Malfoy and murdered before she could scream. Her husband was tortured by Lucius when he made his way up the stairs to check if Molly was okay, kept alive only because Lucius was called to help the Dark Lord. Needless to say that he didn't make it; Ron exacted revenge for the murder of his parents before his own death.

In fact, there were very few of the Order who survived to tell the tale, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Lupin, Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy were the only ones she knew of. Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy were thought to be Death Eaters, but Snape was working under the last instructions of Albus Dumbledore, and Draco Malfoy under instruction of Severus Snape. When the time for the war came their true allegiances, to freedom, if not the order, shone through and they survived.

There was a small pop behind Ginny that made her jump. She whipped out her wand and turned around.

"Easy there," came the familiar drawl of her ex-Potions Master. She lowered her wand slowly and glared at him. He tried to manage a smile, but it went pitifully wrong and looked more like someone had stepped on his toe while yanking on his lips.

"It's done." She whispered, motioning around her, her empty pockets and absence of bodies was proof enough.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley. You've done a good job," Severus replied. He looked at her, and she continued to glare at him coldly. "This is just the beginning of the end," he told her in a low, but soft, voice.

"It is still an end," she hissed back. He grimaced painfully.

"Part of life is living, Weasley, and I will be damned if I see you give up." Her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh please, Snape," she snapped back acidly. "Don't even begin to act like you care." A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Well, it's too late for that now, isn't it?" he said back calmly. "Don't you understand, Weasley? People survive for a reason. Life continues. We all have a job to do now the war is over."

Who did he think he was talking to? He didn't know her nearly well enough to try and comfort her. He had never cared about her before, so why should he start now?

"It was only ever a job to you! It was my life, Snape. Everything I have ever known is gone, everyone I ever loved, killed!" She yelled, brandishing her left hand in his face violently, the diamond catching the pink dusk light provocatively. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him.

"I have lost things to Ginevra, more than you will ever know, but you must move on." He told her in a voice too calm for Ginny to understand. If he had lost something why was he not grieving? Or was he really that cold-hearted?

"Don't even begin to tell me that you have-" she begun to yell before the tears sprung forth from her eyes again. They cascaded down her cheek and neck, their warm trails paving the way for more droplets. She fell to her knees and Snape fell to his, keeping a hold of her hand. He brought the other one up to her shoulder and placed it there softly. She did not bother making the effort to pull away from his grip since it was the only warmth and comfort she had felt in the past few days. She let it melt into her heart; it barely chiseled a tiny bit of the pain away, but it did. And that was something at least. It was a start… A beginning of an end.

* * *

A/N: First off I would like to say a giant spanking thanks to my wonderful Beta Reader LupinFan227, who is also a GWSS (and GWRL) author, so please take the time to read her work, it is wonderful!

So that was the first chapter of what will become another one of my epic Ginny Weasley/ Severus Snape fan-fictions. I am sorry if it was a bit long, but I wanted to lay the foundation of the story, and a bit (okay, a lot) of an intro never hurt anyone.

Love,

Sinister Spiders


	2. Life Moves On

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Two:** Life Moves On

Severus Snape remembered the feeling of the small red-head in his embrace as he apparated with her back to Grimmauld Place. Her small frame was shaking, and tears were streaming from her eyes. She hadn't protested when he wrapped his arms around her and scooped her off the ground. She was too lost in her grief to care.

He took a sip of his tea and sighed. He knew exactly how the young woman was feeling, but he was so used to it that it affected him differently. After all, he had survived the first war against Voldemort and the loss of many of his friends, Death Eaters or Members of the Order alike.

He had lost his family as well. He had lost his mother when the Death Eaters attacked Diagon Alley. He was unable to help her and had to watch her die. His father died not too long afterwards of alcohol poisoning. That was when Severus had broken down, he lost the only two people who ever really cared for him, and he realized that the death eaters didn't care for him; they were just using him as a pawn in their ranks. That is when he turned to Dumbledore. Ever since then, there was no question about his alliances. Dumbledore truly did care, and killing him was the worst thing he had ever done. If he could give his own life to take it back he would. But he had to move on. He had to continue because he had a job to do. There were people that he could help, people that needed him.

There was a knock on his door and he looked up slowly. The door creaked open to reveal a heavily pregnant Tonk. She had married Remus a few months after Dumbledore's funeral and had fallen pregnant a few months after that. Her usually hot pink hair was a deep shade of magenta and a frown tickled at her lips.

"What is it?" Severus asked, not bothering for pleasantries, and she rolled her eyes.

"It is just that Ginny has woken up," Tonk's said, nodding her head in the direction of the room that would not belong to Ginny.

"That's wonderful, Nymphadora. Now why don't you tell me when she decides to go to the bathroom as well, and then I am sure I will be happy," He drawled, and she glared at him.

"Remus and I thought that you might want to have a word with her. She isn't in the best state; she refuses to eat and drink and won't stop crying," She told him. He could tell by the change in her hair colour that she was getting angry.

"Is that all?" He snapped. She let out a loud sigh and slammed the door shut, making sure to call him an old crabby bastard loudly enough so that he would hear.

Severus sighed and closed his eyes as he remembered Ginny's frame in his arms, the warmth that her body gave him, and he recalled the feeling of helplessness. He wanted to help her. He wanted to make her pain go away, but what could a forty-year-old socially inexperienced scrooge do to help?

After a few minutes of deliberations and misgivings, Severus decided that he should probably try to help, and if he doesn't succeed, at least he can say that he had given it a go. He walked out of his room and down the corridor, keeping his footsteps as quiet as he could. He reached her door and, with slight hesitations, rapped on it softly. There was no response. He knocked again. But again, there was no response. He opened the door slowly.

"Weasley…?" He said, and stuck his head through the door. She was in a miserable state. She was curled up on her bed in the fetal position, sobs racking her entire body. She looked pale and weak. He hadn't seen her so miserable since the Chamber of Secrets episode.

He walked over to her and sat on the side of her bed. "Ginny?" he said, but she did not respond, not that he really blamed her. The last thing she probably wanted at that moment was her old potions master to try to comfort her.

"If it helps," he drawled, "I know what you are going through." No response. "I have lost people to the war as well, people who were and weren't involved… it hardly seems fair that anyone died, but look how many people they saved. Surely Harry, Hermione, your mother and brothers would want that." She stopped crying, her body tensing; he was getting somewhere at least. "Your family and friends died, but look what they have done! They have provided a safe society for people to live in, and when you have children you will know that they are safe from Voldemort, and all of the horror you have seen." That didn't seem like the right thing to say. She turned her head quickly to face him. Her pale freckled skin was now deep red and the trails of tears had left dry white marks on her cheeks. Her eyes were swollen and puffy and her hair was a mess.

"Oh, my children will live happily, will they?" She snapped bitterly "Please tell me how the hell I am meant to have children when Harry is dead! We were going to get married, or didn't you know that? Were you too busy in your positions lab to notice?" she asked. He tried not to take any offense from her words, but a little bit of the insult made it's way through his emotional barriers, stinging him deeply.

"There are other men in this world, Ginevra. I am sure Harry would want you to move on," he said evenly. She was angry, but he was sure she wouldn't have been so harsh if she wasn't such an emotional wreck.

"How on earth would you know what Harry wants? You hated him… You hate everyone. Why are you even here? Let me guess, Tonks or Remus asked you to pay me a visit…" He looked away from her glare and she nodded bitterly "I am surprised you tore yourself away from your office, you know, because I had never pictured you as the helping kind…maybe the hating kind, but not helping. Tell me, Snape, do you get some sort of sick satisfaction out of watching me? Do you like seeing people in pain?" she spat, and he turned back and met her eyes.

"First of all Weasley," he begun, sounding very much like a potions master again, "It is rude to talk to people who want to help you like that. As it is to ask so many questions and not give me any time to answer."

She looked outraged, but he supposed that was better than crying "I did know you and Harry were getting married, and I know Harry would want you to carry on because that is what anybody would want for the lover they left behind. Secondly, Tonks did ask me to come here and have a talk to you, but in the end, it was me who decided to do it. I wasn't forced to. And no, I don't get any satisfaction out of watching you like this. I don't think anyone does. The reason I came in here was to try and help you because, frankly, you need it!

"As I said before, I know what you are going through, and I thought that it might be worth my while to tear myself away from by beloved office to see if I could help you," he replied calmly. She snorted indignantly and turned to face the wall. "If you don't want my help, and that is fine. But you do need to remember that life moves on, and you need to as well. Maybe not now, but some time, you will need to get on with your life," he said before standing up quickly and striding out of the room, careful not to slam the door behind him. He looked around and saw Tonks walking inconspicuously (or so she thought) down the hall.

"Tonks!" Severus called after her, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. She turned back to see him and an expression of shock came over her face.

"Oh, hi, Severus! So you decided to talk to her, did you? How did it go?" she asked. Severus shook his head.

"You are terrible at looking innocent, Tonks. So don't bother. You know exactly how it went." He snapped before walking past her to get to his office.

Three days later Ginny still hadn't come out of her room, and Remus, Tonks and Severus were all getting worried, even if one of them wasn't willing to admit it. They had heard from the newly reformed Ministry of Magic and a number of other organizations that the fugitive Death Eaters were slowly being caught and put to trial, but that was only a small victory for them. It was too late to save the lives of the people that they murdered.

"Severus, would you like some tea?" Remus asked, Severus looked over the top of his book and shook his head.

"No, thank you," he replied. Remus shrugged, and when he was finished making his own cup of tea he walked over and sat on the seat across from Severus.

"Severus…" Remus began. Severus grunted, not looking up from his book. "I just wanted to say thank you for going in and having a word with Ginny. Tonks and I really appreciated it." Another grunt. "You know, at first we thought you just made it worse, but she has stopped crying now, you know. When Tonks went in to see her last night, she just looked angry…" Remus added in a conversational tone. Severus grunted again and kept reading. "We figured that it was better for her to be angry than to be crying. It shows she is dealing with her losses."

"Perhaps she has just run out of tears to cry," Severus drawled, not looking up from his book, making Remus sigh.

"No, we think that she is moving along slowly. We have both tried to talk to her, but we don't seem to be getting through." This was followed by a purposeful pause where Severus was meant to volunteer to talk to her again, but Severus looked up at Remus and then down at his book again.

"Honestly Severus!" Remus snapped. Severus had to stop the smile that was creeping on to his lips "Could you please have another talk to her? It might do her some good," he said, and Severus looked up at him.

"I suppose so," he said with a shrug. Remus nodded and then left the room. Now Severus was able to continue reading without interruption.

Severus' uninterrupted reading continued for all of about two minutes before he was interrupted again. This time it was by an internal voice, rather than an external one. What he had said to Ginny got through, at least a little bit. She had moved on from her misery. And it was true what Remus had said, anger was better than sadness. It showed that she was dealing with it, getting her feeling out instead of bottling them up. Severus also had to admit that he couldn't get the memory of scooping her into his arms out of his head. He couldn't ignore the image of her face that floated into his mind at the mention of her name. She was beautiful. No matter how tearstained her face was, she was just gorgeous.

Severus shook his head roughly. He couldn't think about her like that. He was just over twenty years her senior, and he had been her professor. _Had_ _been_, that voice nagged him, _past tense_. Severus bit his tongue and willed that voice to bee silent, repressing it with the more sensible side of his reason. _As if you could ever compare to Harry Potter_, he told himself firmly. S_he was going to marry him. I doubt she will ever like __me._

Satisfied with the harsh reprimand he gave himself he decided to head upstairs and take a shower before he went to have a talk with her.

A/N: Thanks to those people who reviewed this story, I really appreciate it. This story is going slowly, but as I said last chapter, the characters must be built up before they can… well, I don't want to give the story away. So just take my word for it! Thanks again to LupinFan for beta-ing this story, I appreciate it lots, and don't forget to check out her work!

Love,

Sinister Spiders


	3. You're Not Me

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Three:** You're Not Me

Ginny laid on her bed and faced the wall, staring at the empty spot in front of her face angrily. The only times she had gotten off her bed was to go to the toilet and once to have a shower, in an unsuccessful attempt to drown her sorrows. The weight of the world seemed to be pressing down on her and she hated it. She felt so alone, so weak, so stupid, but most of all she was angry.

Ginny had noticed that after her talk with Severus she was no longer upset, she was just furious, and she hated to admit it, but she felt a little comforted by his words. Once or twice she wished that she would see him walking into her room to try and talk to her again, but it didn't happen. So she slapped that idea out of her mind quickly with the reasoning that he didn't care. Nobody did anymore, all of the people that ever gave a damn were dead or permanently insane.

She let the memories of good times float through her mind and she couldn't be happy about them. She only felt anger, she was angry that Harry had asked her to marry him, furious with herself for letting him get that close to her. She remembered the time that she and her mother had cooked chocolate cake together, and laughed when the spell they used to mix it went wrong and they ended up with icing all over their faces. She cursed them for being so careless, she cursed her mother for letting herself get killed so easily.

And so the internal torment continued. The anger and resentment flowed through her mind and she sunk into the black hole that she had created for herself.

There was a soft knock on her door, but she didn't hear it, she was too busy hating Ron for being distracted by Hermione's death. He could have avoided the curse if he had just paid attention. There was another knock, this time a bit louder, it broke her train of thought and she looked towards the door, then back at the spot on her wall. If they really wanted to talk to her no amount of silence would turn them away, nor would her denying them entry to her room. She let them knock again. A few minutes later the door opened and she heard footsteps. They didn't have the same sound as Tonks pregnant shuffle, nor did the footsteps fall like Remus' careful and strong strides. It was Severus. It had to be.

"What do you want?" She snapped bitterly, a part of her hating her tone, she quickly buried that part in anger and resentment.

"Nothing." Came Severus' drawl.

"Then why are you here?" She spat, she felt Severus sit on the bed behind her, and she turned to glare at him. Her glare was usually enough to put Harry off, but it wasn't working on him, he didn't turn around and leave, in fact, he made himself more comfortable.

"You have not eaten in days." He told her, she shrugged "You probably haven't had anything to drink either," another shrug "and you probably don't even know whether it is day or night." He finished.

"Does it matter?" She scoffed. He nodded.

"Yes, it does, because whether you like it or not the world continues to turn, and I am afraid it will continue to do so for a long while." He said simply. There was a short silence. "You can't go on being angry at the world, you have to deal with your loss one day Ginevra." He told her, she looked away from him.

"What would you know," she spat "don't even pretend to know what I am going through. You are not me." He shook his head slowly.

"No, I am not you, and I have no intention of ever being you. But do you want to know something?" she shook her head "_You_ are you, and you have to start getting used to it." He continued despite her objection. She laughed.

"You make it sound so easy." She spat sarcastically.

"Regardless of what you may think, Weasley, I know what it is like to lose people, and I have dealt with it before." She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "The sadness and anger will never go away, let me tell you that now, but you have to learn to live with it." He was right, she knew it, but she didn't want to admit it. Not yet. "There is nothing I can say or do that will make it feel better for you, the way you deal with it is up to you, but I can only offer suggestions to make it less disabling." He looked around the room and stood up, he walked over to her window and put his hands on the curtains.

"No!" She howled, he ignored her and tore the curtains apart, letting a blinding light into the room. He looked at her, and with the help of the newfound light she saw pity creeping onto his face, he nodded before walking out of the room.

Ginny closed her eyes and tried to remove that conversation from her mind, but it was impossible, the light still shone through her tightly closed eyelids and the voice inside of her that told her that Snape was right refused to be silenced. She couldn't sit up, she didn't feel that she had the strength to. So she stayed where she was and let the battle between her grief and common sense rage.

* * *

When the sun's strength lit up her entire room and she was unable to hide from it's light and warmth. There was a knock at her door and a second later it opened and Tonks waddled in. She set a silver tray on the table next to Ginny's bed and rubbed her shoulder.

"Things always have a way of working out Ginny." She said softly before leaving the room again. Ginny looked over at the tray on her table and sighed. On it was a mixture of her favourite foods and drinks.

_You have to deal with your loss one day_, Severus' voice echoed through her head and she clenched her fists tightly. She hated to admit it but he was right. She pushed herself up into a sitting position slowly and took a few seconds to recover. After all of the time she had spent on her bed with no food or drink, that small action was enough to exhaust her. When she felt that she had recovered he reached over and took a small bread roll of the tray. She felt bile rising in her throat in protest, there was a part of her that was satisfied to see her starve to death. _I have to do this_, she told herself firmly and pushed the roll into her mouth defiantly.

She chewed for a few seconds before she became angry with herself for giving in so easily and spat it out. She howled in frustration and threw herself back on her bed. How dare she try and get over her loved ones that quickly? They deserved better than that, she thought.

"You can't hope to get any nutrients out of it if you spit it up all the time." Came Snape's bored drawl, her head snapped up and she glared at him. He was there leaning in her doorway with his arms crossed, looking slightly amuse.

"You think this is funny, don't you?" She spat, the venom in her voice stinging her, but not the man she directed it at.

"Honestly, no, I don't see any humour in your situation at all." He told her simply, unaffected by her glares and comments. "What I do see is more disappointing than funny." She cocked an eyebrow, "Do you really think that all of the people who died for you want to see you waste away like this?" He asked, words like a punch in the stomach. Ginny bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut. That hit hard.

She heard him walk further into her room and refused to open her eyes, lest they release the tears she was holding back. There was a bit of shuffling and she could feel his presence in front of her.

"Sit up." He commanded her, there was something compelling about his instructions, and she wondered for a moment if he was using some sort of spell. Nevertheless she sat up slowly, feeling that it was in her best interests to comply. "Open your eyes." She shook her head, and he took a deep breath. "Open your eyes." He said again, this time more forcefully, and she was unable to resist. The sight of him standing in front of her and trying to help her made her heart skip a beat. "Open your mouth." He said, she did so, and she saw a biscuit in his hand, he slipped it in between her lips slowly. "Close your mouth." She did, and the taste of the food on her tongue brought back all of her resentment. She shouldn't be eating when so many of her friends and family had died, and he had no right to force her to.

She went to spit the biscuit out, but his hand clamped over her mouth quickly and she glared up at him.

"Chew." He told her, she narrowed her eyes defiantly. "I said chew." He growled, with a puff of anger she gave in. There was no way to get out of it. After a few minutes her glare disappeared because of the concentration it required for her to grind the food between her teeth. She had never known anything as hard as this before, it seemed as though she was faced with an impossible task, she couldn't finish it. "Now swallow." He directed. She closed her eyes and a tear squeezed through her tightly shuttered lids. She heard him shuffle around a bit and then felt his hands on her shoulders. "Look at me Ginny." He whispered, in a voice so unusually soft for him that her eyes sprung open in surprise. "Please swallow." He almost begged, and with a large amount of effort she managed to swallow the food that she had been chewing. When it was done the tears fell from her eyes freely and she was pulled into his strangely comforting embrace.

After he had seen her eat the biscuit, Severus had left Ginny's room, and she was everything was back to the silence and loneliness she had become accustomed too. After he had left, she had finished of most of the food on the platter, and an hour or so later, Tonks had come into the room to remove the tray, leaving behind a glass of water. Ginny noted the enormous grin on Tonks' face when she spied the nearly empty tray.

She was sitting on her bed now, and her mind was a thousand times more clear than it had been over the past few weeks. The food gave her enough energy to sit up, and in some way, when she swallowed that first biscuit she swallowed some of her sadness as well. With each new piece of food she ate, or drink she took a sip of, the pain slowly ebbed away.

As annoyed as she was to admit it, Severus was right, her parents, siblings, friends and Harry would not want to see her locked in her room wasting away. They would want her to move on, and she had slowly come to realise that the best way to honour their deaths would be to do what they had wished of her. She had to continue to live, no matter how painful it seemed. She had to continue her life.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I hope you liked that chapter, and I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and read! The next chapter will be along before you know it, as will the GWSS relationship! I know that this has been a LONG time in the coming, but if it helps I just came back from not having access to any internet source in November, got home, then went to New Zealand in December- and so that is why it is posted in January '08 – a good start to the new year, I think?

Love,

Sinister Spiders


	4. Tea and Memories

****

Take These Broken Wings

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Four:** Tea and Memories

_"Now chew…" Severus directed, the redhead in front of him glared at him through sad emerald eyes. After a deep breath she turned and grabbed the bowl she had taken the food from and made to spit it back out. Severus covered her mouth with one hand and used the other to caress her warm cheek. "I told you to chew!" He growled. They glared at each other for a while- both stubborn and refusing to budge. _

_With an angry snarl she chewed the food which seemed to have the consistency of drying cement. He didn't break eye contact with her until she swallowed, then he handed her a glass of water. She didn't need to be told what to do with that._

_"Now, was that so bad?" He asked mockingly. Her green eyes opened in shock and her mouth formed a perfect circle. He snickered. "There's the Lily I love!" he leant forward and kissed her softly._

Severus woke in a cold sweat and raked his fingers through his hair. He let out a sigh and got out of bed. He knew better than to try to get back to sleep after dreaming of Lily. He thought the dreams had stopped, but ever since talking to Ginny the first time after her trip to Godric's hollow he had been dreaming of Lily every night.

He closed his eyes and remembered the day that he dreamt about. She had found out only days earlier that her mother and father died in a car accident and had returned to her house for the funeral. He tried to owl her on numerous occasions, but his owl Hermes arrived back at the castle without a letter every time. It took him nearly three hours to convince Professor Slughorn that he should be allowed to visit her to see how she was doing. It was lucky for him that she was also a member of the Slug Club.

When he arrived at their house in the suburbs of London Petunia had let him in reluctantly; she had never been too fond of anything to do with magic. He stayed at her house for three long days before he had to return to Hogwarts. Later that year Lily had told him he was the reason she hadn't sunk into a lasting depression; his support showed her that life moved on.

With a frustrated groan he pulled some fresh clothes out of his wardrobe and made his way towards the bathroom, trying to banish Lily's face from his mind. He succeeded, but only to have Ginny's brown eyes replace Lily's green ones. He reached into the shower and turned the cold water tap on full- that ought to make him snap out of it.

* * *

Severus walked into the kitchen with a mind to make a cup of coffee. The cold shower he had taken had failed to distract him from his musings, but had succeeded in making him cold. He shook his head to himself as he opened the door. He stood rooted to the spot as his eyes adjusted to the light. It was five o'clock in the morning, it seemed unlikely that anyone would be awake at that time. When the shock of the bright light faded he was amazed to see Ginny sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea.

"Good morning Ginevra." He said as he walked past her to make himself a cup of tea.

"Morning" She replied. For a few minutes the only noise was the familiar sounds of Severus making his cup of morning tea. When he was finished he walked over to the table and took a seat opposite of her. He tried to make clandestine observations of her over the rim of his cup only to discover that she was purposefully avoiding his gaze. "You're up early." She said sounding slightly dejected. He surmised he had interrupted what she hoped would be an uneventful trip to the kitchen. There was no use going back to his room now.

"Couldn't sleep." He responded knowing that she would see through any excuse he made up. He had no work to do as it was school holidays, nor did he have anywhere important to be or anybody noteworthy to see.

"I suppose that makes two of us then." She sighed and took a sip of her tea. He shrugged.

"There will be nights like that; but when you are tired enough you will be able to sleep." He told her.

Ginny looked at Snape curiously. Under the bright kitchen light and sitting at the table there was no way she could hide from him. Or herself. He looked tired and slightly distracted.

"I hope I didn't wake you," she said, looking at him properly for the first time. His eyes rose to meet hers over the rim of his mug and attempted what she thought could be interpreted as a smile.

"No," he told her "not you…" She bit the inside of her lip and looked away. "It is good to see you out of your room though," he added as an afterthought and as soon as she looked over at him he looked away. "I …." He shook his head and stopped talking and she raised an eyebrow.

"You…?" She asked, he smirked and shook his head again.

"Never mind- it wasn't important." He drawled before taking a big gulp of his tea.

Severus and Ginny sat in silence for minutes before Ginny rose to make a second cup of tea for herself, taking Severus' empty cup off the table.

"White with no sugar?" She asked He was surprised that she had taken any notice. He nodded mutely and watched her as she turned her back and went about making their tea.

"You know," she begun in a hesitant voice, he nodded for her to continue even though she couldn't see him "I think what you said was right." He waited, not knowing where she was going with this line of conversation. She threw a teabag at the bin on the other side of the room and got it in, Severus smiled, it was interesting to see that the excellent aiming skills she had acquired as a chaser were still intact. "I can just imagine my mother scolding me for not getting out of my bed and looking after myself." She laughed to herself as she threw the second tea bag into the bin.

She turned around and made her way to the table, sliding his cup over to him. He picked it up and blew on it for a bit before taking a sip. _Nice_.

"And I can just imagine Fred and George would be trying to make light of the situation." Severus nodded impassively. There was nothing for him to say. She was silent for a minute or so. "What do I do now, Severus?" She whispered, sad eyes desperate for an answer. _"What now, Sev?" _Lily's question echoed through his mind. He took a breath. _She is not Lily!_ He scolded himself for allowing the link between the two women to creep into his mind again.

"I will be going to Diagon Alley to buy some potions ingredients if you are interested in coming." He offered. Ginny's mouth formed a perfect circle of surprise at the suggestion of something so ordinary.

"I.. well, I just… Diagon Alley?" He could see thoughts racing through her mind at the speed of light. He sculled the rest of his tea and stood up.

"I will be leaving at nine o'clock sharp. Meet me at the front door if you are interested," he said walking over to the sink and dropping his cup in. He turned and made for the door stopping before he stepped into the corridor beyond, "Thanks for the tea."

* * *

Severus straightened his cloak and made his way towards the front door wondering if Ginny would be there to meet him.

"Hey!" Tonks called, he turned to see her waddling towards him "Where are you going?" Severus refrained from sighing. He knew that it was friendly to show interest in other people's affairs but frankly he found it quiet annoying.

"Diagon Alley…" He responded, she just looked at him. He let out a defeated sigh, "Would you like me to get you something while I'm there?" He added winning a bright smile from the magenta-haired woman.

"Well, now that you mention it; Remus and I would like some more chocolate frogs." She said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a fair amount of money.

"_Remus_ wants chocolate frogs?" He drawled sarcastically, "I've never seen Remus eat any sort of chocolate." Tonks' cheeks reddened and she had the good sense to look away. "And how many chocolate frogs exactly? I don't think they want me to buy out their entire stock." A large grin spread across Tonks' face.

"Well, a handful would be nice… and Severus?" Severus grunted in response. "This is strictly between you and I." she winked. He rolled his eyes and took two of the coins from her hand before continuing on to the front door.

Ginny adjusted her scarf for the sixteenth time and looked at her watch. Five past nine. He must not want to go anymore. She grimaced and tore her scarf off, hanging it on the coat rack. She should have known better than to think Severus gave a damn. She hastily unbuttoned her overcoat, eager to get back to her room.

"You've gone and come back already, have you?" She heard Severus' drawl from the other side of the hall. She froze and turned to face him.

"I thought you weren't…." She begun, but watched him as he arrived at the coat rack beside her to put on his coat.

"No. As a matter of fact I was intercepted by Tonks and she begged me to run an errand for her. I said I was going, why would you think I wasn't?" He asked, zipping up his jacket and wrapping his scarf around his neck decisively.

"Well, it's just that it is five past nine and you're never la-"

"Late?" He interrupted looking at his watch "Well blast me, five minutes!" He drawled sarcastically.

"Ten points off Slytherin!" Ginny scolded jokingly and then bit her lip. She shouldn't be messing around; she was supposed to be mourning the loss of her family and friends.

"Ten points off Slytherin?" he asked incredulously. She turned away and felt a blush creeping up her face. "I would have taken twenty." And with that, he opened the door and stepped into the blinding white beyond.

* * *

The sun reflected into her eyes from the stark white snow. She was wrapped up tight against the cool winter chill, but her unprotected face tingled with the cold, she clenched her hands in her pockets and wished that she had thought to bring her gloves.

The noises of Diagon Alley assaulted her ears; vendors plying their goods, friends gossiping, children screaming, pigeons cooing. The smells were overwhelming her too- so many people in one place, the scent of food wafting from the cafes they passed. Ginny looked at Snape out of the corner of her eyes. He didn't seem too phased by these signs of life.

There were so many people….

Ginny sidestepped to avoid colliding with a young boy who was running towards Quality Quidditch Supplies which was displaying a new broom. Harry would have loved it; it had a streamlined design with a dark mahogany handle and deep yellow straws in the tail. _The Victory 1999_. Ginny suppressed a laugh. Severus cleared his throat next to her and she looked up at him questioningly. She looked to their left and her heart skipped a beat.

"Ginny!" She heard Luna Lovegood cry before she was engulfed in the girl's arms. "Ginny! I didn't know what happened to you… of course we all know about Harry, Ron and Hermione but we didn't know where you were…" Ginny felt Luna's arms relax as she pulled away from her and watched the blonde's eyebrows furrow when she noticed Snape.

"Uh, Luna… You know Severus…" Ginny said although no introduction was necessary. Severus nodded sharply.

"Yes Ginny, I have taught Luna for the past six years," he said sarcastically, Ginny blushed at her own stupidity. "I'll leave you two girls to it; I need to go to the Apothecary." Ginny went to protest- she had no desire to be left alone in Diagon Alley.

"So Ginny…" Luna started as Severus walked away "Snape?" Ginny shrugged.

"I am staying with Remus Lupin and his wife Nymphadora Tonks and so is Snape," she said by way of explanation.

"Oh that's right… I heard about the rest of your family," Ginny bit back tears, "But, why are you staying with Lupin?" Luna continued, not quiet seeing the connection.

"He was one of Mum and Dad's-" She begun but Luna interrupted her.

"That's right! I read in the Daily Prophet that they were aurors! So you parents were… wait a sec- the Order of the Phoenix…" Ginny bit her lip as the cogs turned in Luna's head, knowing all too well that it was useless trying to stop her, "Snape is part of the Order of the Phoenix?" She questioned, Ginny nodded and Luna snorted "Well, there is something you don't hear every day!" She mused with a shake of her head.

"Luna!" She heard a male voice call before Neville Longbottom came up from behind Luna and clamped a hand down on her shoulder. "You said you were going to Madam Malkins! I thought I had lost you again!" Neville stopped his scolding and noticed Ginny.

"Look who I found! I told you that I would bump into an old friend when my eyelash fell out last night!" Luna said proudly. Neville stared at Ginny for a moment before pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry to hear about Harry… and Ron and Hermione and your family…" He whispered into her ear, she swallowed back a sob and nodded. He pulled away and looked her up and down with a slight frown. "If you ever need anything…" he begun but stopped when his grandmother rapped him on the head sharply.

"I swear to you Neville…" she began in a shrill voice, "between you and Luna wandering off… Oh, hello Ginny." The old witch acknowledged Ginny with a curt nod.

"Hello Mrs. Longbottom." Ginny replied. The old woman frowned slightly.

"Sorry to hear about your losses," she said. Ginny nodded and supposed that she had better get used to hearing that. "They died for a good cause Ginny, just remember that," the old woman said. The pain was evident in her own eyes as she remembered the demise of her son and daughter-in-law. Ginny gave her a weak smile, somewhat humbled by the truth in her words. "Come on you two, we have to get home in time to listen to Christos Sizzle on the radio!" She turned and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. Luna and Neville gave Ginny one last smile each before joining hands and following Neville's grandmother. _Luna and Neville,_ she thought with a pang of jealousy and loss, _don't know why I'm surprised…_

Ginny was roused from her reflections when she received a rough bump from a middle-age wizard dressed in dark robes and a sense of emptiness flooded through her. She had never been alone in Diagon Alley. There was always someone there to chat with and keep her company. She looked around as people went about their business and bit her lip to stop herself from crying. There were too many people. Everything was too loud. Her heart began to pound. She braced herself and prepared to apparate back to Remus' house.

The feeling of a warm gloved hand on the small of her back grounded her and she let out a small gasp of surprise. The warmth radiated through her whole being and soothed her racing heart. She looked up to see Severus looking down at her with a small smile.

"Sorry if I made your reunion with Lovegood awkward," he drawled, "So, where to next?" he asked as if there was nothing wrong with the world.

Ginny rubbed her hands over the orange fabric and felt the bumps of the silver-embossed lettering underneath her finger tips. _The Tales of Beadle the Bard,_ childhood memories of the stories flooded back. Her mother reading her stories from the volume before bed, she remembered the pretty pink cover of the one her father got her for her birthday… She remembered the moment when the Burrow was set alight by Death Eaters and all of her possessions went up in smoke. She flipped the book over and saw the price sticker on the back. With a sigh she reshelved it and walked over to Severus.

"I'll wait for you outside." She told him. When she opened the front door of the shop the bell jingled and a biting breeze stung her face. She wasn't waiting for long before her ex potions master emerged from the shop tucking his coin bag into his coat pocket. With a silent nod he motioned towards the Leaky Cauldron.

The homely smell of shepard's pie wafted over to Severus as he walked past one of the café's of Diagon Alley and his stomach grumbled in protest. Apparently it thought that two cups of tea weren't sufficient to provide him with energy.

"Would you like to get something to eat?" he asked, Ginny looked up at him confused.

"Something to eat?" She said and he nodded.

"You know," he begun "food- the stuff that-"

"I know what food is!" she snapped and he stopped himself from smirking, it is exactly the same tenacity he would have expected from Lily. "Are you sure that's ok?" she asked, he sighed and nodded. He could see that there are a thousand thoughts racing through her mind.

"Unless you don't want to be seen having lunch with me…" He said slowly and she looked surprise.

"No!" she said quickly, "It's just that I thought you wouldn't want to be seen having lunch with me." He put a hand on the small of her back, enjoying the contours of her body under his fingers. _Stop it!_ He told himself, _You are old enough to be her father!_ He led her off the street into the café and motioned at the waitress for a table of two. They sat down and were brought a teapot and two cups. Severus poured their tea and Ginny added her own sugar. Two sugars; no milk. _Just like Lily_. Severus took a deep gulp of the tea, thankful for the warmth it provided.

"It's funny you know," She said gesturing around her "while I was in my room it was like the world had screeched to a halt…" she stopped and had some more tea.

"And when you come outside you realize that, for some people, life is as it was." He finished. She nodded.

When the waitress came over they ordered their food and then fell silent. The silence persisted when their meals came and even while they ate. When the time came to pay Ginny reached into her pocket but Severus reached over the table and stilled her hand, she looked at him questioningly, and he threw some coins from his pocket onto the table.

Ginny saw the money for the meals roll onto the table and closed her eyes to hold back the emotions that this unexpected kindness brought upon her. She took a deep breath and let her eyelids part to find that Severus was looking at her.

"Thank you." She said, barely louder than a whisper. He gave a small nod and she knew that he understood that she wasn't talking about the meal.

* * *

Severus sat in his office reading a new book he had bought that day on the usefulness of different types of animal bile in potion making and turned a brown-paper wrapped parcel over in his spare hand. There was a knock on his door.

"Yes?" he enquired, the door opened and he saw Remus standing there. "What is it?" he asked snapping his book shut.

"It is dinner time…" Remus said, Severus nodded, "and I wanted to thank you for getting those frogs for Nymphadora."

"What frogs?" Severus asked, as far as Tonks told him he knew nothing of it.

"The chocolate frogs you bought … oh," Remus sighed, "Well, thanks anyway."

"I'll be down in a minute." Severus said, opening his desk draw and dropping the book into it. He stood up and brushed past Remus at the door on his way to the bathroom.

"Ginny's there too," he said. Severus turned quickly to face his old peer, looking at him with slightly widened eyes.

"Very well," Severus said with a curt nod at the man and walked the opposite direction to which he had originally intended to go.

"You know," called Remus, Severus waited while the other man caught up to him, "she reminds me a lot of Lily…"

Dinner was quiet nice. Remus and Tonks had filled what would have been sullen silences with their memories of people in the Order who has passed away. Severus smiled politely most of the time, but was pleasantly surprised when Ginny's voice piped up some new insight into their lost friend's lives. They had been at the table for over an hour when Tonks let out a long sigh and rubbed her rounded stomach.

"Ooof!" she groaned, leaning back into her chair "I think it is time for me and this little puffskein to get some sleep!" she announced. Remus jumped to his feet to help her out of the chair and walked her towards the door with one arm around her shoulders. Severus couldn't help but feel a deep-seated twinge of jealousy flicker in his heart at the tenderness that the two shared.

"I'll come back in a while to fix the dishes," Remus said.

"Never mind!" Ginny volunteered jumping out of her seat, "I'll do them!" Remus and Tonks turned.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked, Ginny nodded and shooed them away before clearing the table efficiently. She stood at the kitchen sink and ran the water adding more detergent than was practical.

"I like bubbles," she said with a smile as she dumped the first glass into the water and started washing.

"You know," Severus begun "you could do that with magic." She laughed.

"I can just imagine mum telling me off for using magic when I have two good hands!" she said with a small giggle, "plus… It keeps me busy." She added in a more sober tone, and Severus knew that this was the real reason for not using magic. He got out of his seat and without a word, started to wipe up the soapy dishes.

_Ginny looks nice when she concentrates_, he decided before he had the chance to banish the thought from his mind. Her face was screwed up in effort as she attempted to scrub the last of the pots free of congealed and slightly burnt gravy. With a small triumphant "Aha!" she held the clean pot up for Severus and pulled the plug in the sink. He watched as she dried her hands on the legs of her jeans.

"Well…" She said looking around, "I suppose I'd best be off to bed." He nodded and watched as she made for the door.

"No!" he called after her, she turned and he could see the confusion on her face. "I- … wait here," he told her and put the half-dry pot and tea towel onto the kitchen bench.

Ginny stood rooted to the spot as Severus disappeared down the hallway only to return moments later with a brown-paper wrapped package in his hands. He stood in front of her and looked down awkwardly. He held the package out towards her and she took it apprehensively.

"Open it," Severus directed as Ginny looked at him quizzically. She pulled the brown paper away from the book and ran her hand over the orange cover slowly.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard…" She whispered as she fingered the silver lettering. She looked up into Severus' eyes and he saw a storm of emotions behind them. Tears welled up and he could feel her breath ragged and warm on his chest. "Thank you…" She said. In that moment the torrent of emotions stopped and there was a familiar look in her eyes. He was about to protest when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled his face down so it was barely a centimeter from hers. "Thank you," she murmured softly, before closing the gap between their lips.

The world spun from underneath him and all the sounds of night stopped. He wrapped his arms around Ginny's body and pulled her closer to him ignoring that nagging voice telling him how wrong the situation was. She deepened the kiss and the taste of her drove his body wild. Every nerve in his body was stretched to breaking point, his blood pulsing through his veins.

A gasp of shock escaped from his lips when Ginny pushed him back against the table continued kissing him, her hands coming up to hold his face, then trailing through his hair and down his back. After a few more minutes of fevered kissing she pulled her lips off his. "Thank you," she whispered before snatching her book of the table and fleeing from the room.

Severus watched as Ginny left the room into the dark corridor beyond and brought his finger up to trace his lips, still burning from the feeling of Ginny's kiss.

* * *

A/N: So, first up I would like to say a massive thankyou to my new Beta, Morgan (The-Butcher-Bunny).

Secondly, I would like to apologize for the amount of time it took to get around to writing this chapter. Considering it took no more than three hours to write I have to say I am quiet ashamed of myself! Anyway, the next chapter is underway and I am incredibly determined to finish this fic within the next month (hopefully less).

To all those who read and reviewed- thank you for your comments and encouragement; I hope that this chapter- and the ones to follow- will be worth the wait.

Happy reading,

Sinister Spiders


	5. Andromeda

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Five:** Andromeda

* * *

_The world spun from underneath him and all the sounds of night stopped. He wrapped his arms around Ginny's body and pulled her closer to him ignoring that nagging voice telling him how wrong the situation was. She deepened the kiss and the taste of her drove his body wild. Every nerve in his body was stretched to breaking point, his blood pulsing through his veins._

_ A gasp of shock escaped from his lips when Ginny pushed him back against the table continued kissing him, her hands coming up to hold his face, then trailing through his hair and down his back. After a few more minutes of fevered kissing she pulled her lips off his. "Thank you," she whispered before snatching her book of the table and fleeing from the room._

_Severus watched as Ginny left the room into the dark corridor beyond and brought his finger up to trace his lips, still burning from the feeling of Ginny's kiss._

* * *

Scenes from the final battle played over in Severus' dream, but this time, there was something different. When he saw the smoke settling around Godric's hollow he noticed a Phoenix flying towards him. It perched on his arm before bursting in flames, only to rise from it's ashes and fly away again. He watched as it disappeared in the smoke-screened sky and his gaze returned to the ruins of the house. Amongst the rubble he saw Ginevra Weasley lying unconscious with her silky red hair fanned out behind her. He ran over and put his hand on her chest, relieved to feel it rise and fall, if only slightly. He took her shoulders in his hands and gave her a gentle shake.

After what felt like an eternity her porcelain eyelashes fluttered open to reveal her chocolate brown eyes staring up at him. The pain behind her eyes was immeasurable.

"Severus." She croaked. It sounded as though her throat was dry and it was painful for her to talk. "Please- help me." She finished, a single tear trailed down her cheek and he leant forward and took her warm body in his arms. His face inched closer towards her and she closed her eyes in anticipation of his kiss.

A violent knock at his door roused Severus from his dream just before he had the chance to kiss Ginny.

"What do you want?" He growled loudly in frustration before looking at the clock on his bedside table. Six thirty in the morning. The door burst open and he saw a tired but enthusiastic looking Remus in the door way. "It is six thirty in the morning! What is it?" Snape cursed.

"Sorry Severus…. I just wanted to tell you that Tonks had our baby! A girl! Would you believe it?" He said dreamily.

"Congratulations Remus." Severus said rubbing his gritty eyes.

"Nymphadora wants you and Ginny to come and see her! We named her Andromeda!" He shut the door and Severus pulled his pillow over his head. The door opened quickly again "Oh! Visiting hours start at seven- so you may want to start getting ready!" It took all of Severus' restraint to not throw his pillow at the lycanthrope.

Severus tried to get back to sleep. He tried very hard. But he found that the more often he told himself to stop thinking, the more he thought. Mostly his thoughts pulled him back to the night before when Ginny had kissed him. It was so unexpected, so wrong, but so good. He needed both of his hands to count the amount of years it had been since he had been with a woman and until last night he thought that he was finally able to accept his celibate fate and focus on other- more important- things.

He was wrong. That kiss had set his body alight with a desire that he had hoped to have forgotten. Sure, he had to take care of himself from time to time, you can deny a basic physiological want for only so long before suffering for it.

He rolled onto his stomach and tried to keep his mind of the feeling of her lips on his. Her soft hands holding his face. Moving thought his hair. He hissed in anger as the pressure lying on his erection made the longing worse. This is why it took him so long to get to sleep the previous night. He had tried to make do with his usual methods but his mind refused to let the kiss rest and his body was but the slave of his mind. Logically, he knew that the kiss meant nothing. She was merely over emotional because of the book he gave her. Overreacting because of all of the stresses in her life.

But _Merlin_ it was wonderful!

This is why he hated relationships. Since when did buying a stupid book warrant such a forceful sexual response? And if it did, why didn't he do it more often in his younger years? He let out a sigh and got out of bed. There was no point trying to get back to sleep now.

* * *

After a long cold shower Severus made his way to Ginny's room. Heaving a sigh he knocked on the door softly. After much debate he decided that, despite the high probability of awkwardness between them, he should wake her up and invite her along to the hospital with him. After all, he wasn't sure if Remus would have told her. He waited for a couple of minutes before knocking again, louder this time. There was no response. _Well_, he thought, _there is no way I am going in there and waking her up- she can see Andromeda later today_. He turned on his heel and stalked towards the stairs. Perhaps it was better that she wasn't awake, he was reasonably certain that if he saw her less often his longing would lessen.

It was with great surprise that he saw Ginny sitting at the kitchen table staring into space while sipping some tea with a half-eaten piece of toast in front of her. His footsteps roused her out of her daydream and she turned to face him.

"Good morning." She said with a soft smile. He, very conversationally, grunted in response. "I made you a cup of tea..." She said, motioning to a cup on the other side of the table that he hadn't noticed before. Severus walked over and took the seat opposite of her and warmed the tea up with his wand.

"Thank you." He replied taking a sip, it was just as he liked it. He looked up at her. "I take it that Remus woke you up as well?" He asked, trying to avoid making excessive eye contact. She nodded sombrely.

"Yes. I also heard him try to wake you up as well. I thought I would wait to see if you were coming downstairs before heading off. I thought that perhaps we could go together?" she said the last bit quietly. He sighed- more time with her was not quiet what he needed at the moment.

"Are you comfortable with going to visit them? I am sure it won't be long before they come home and then the three of them will be inescapable." He drawled. He himself was not overly fussed about going to the hospital but he had to admit that Tonks and Remus had been somewhat accommodating and even friendly since the end of the war. He felt obliged to return the favour.

"Well, yes..." Ginny said looking away quickly "And no." She added. Severus nodded. She didn't need to explain herself for him to understand her. She took a long sip of her tea before she continued. "You –and I hate to say this- were right. On two accounts. I don't think my family would appreciate seeing me lock myself away when they made the ultimate sacrifice for peace. And the world does go on whether I want it to or not." Her chocolate brown eyes locked with his and his heart skipped a beat. He silently cursed himself for reacting like a hormonal teenager. "Plus, it is hardly Andromeda's fault that she was born so soon after all of this" Ginny waved her hand in the air vaguely "so it isn't fair to take it out on her." Severus nodded in agreement.

They sat in an awkward silence while Severus finished his tea and Ginny munched on her toast. Every time their eyes would meet they would both make a poorly covered attempt to look elsewhere. When they were finished Severus directed his wand at the dishes and sent them flying to the sink to wash themselves. He stood and smoothed imaginary lines out of his shirt.

"I will head upstairs and finish getting ready, I will be back in the hall in fifteen minutes, and we can apparate together." He said, heading towards the door.

"Severus?" She called, her voice curious. He stopped in his tracks, hand on the door frame, and turned around. "Are you comfortable going to visit them?" She asked. The question stumped him. What sort of a question was that? She was the one who was dealing with loss. He had gotten over his own issues long ago.

"I'll tell you a secret Ginevra." He said, voice low. Her eyebrows furrowed; surprised that he was going to open up to her. "My biggest fear... is babies." With that he swept out of the room leaving Ginny's mouth open in a perfect circle of surprise.

* * *

Ginny only took ten minutes to get ready. She had already been awake when Remus had come quietly knocking on her door. Last night the sound Tonks pacing across the creaky floorboard for three hours to try and make it through contractions had kept her awake. When Tonks and Remus had decided to make a move to the hospital it had been the vivid memories of her kissing Snape that had kept her from falling asleep. She silently cursed herself for it. While his gift was thoughtful and kind she had no idea why she had responded in the way she had.

Admittedly she was still an emotional wreck. Yesterday had been quiet overwhelming. With the trip to Diagon Alley, and then the beautiful copy of Beedle the Bard, so many small signs of kindness had really thrown her off. She tried to put her behaviour down to that. Emotional overload. But- if it was emotional overload, why couldn't she get over it?

She heard the sound of Severus descending the stairs and she steeled herself to see him. When his face came into view her mind flitted back to the night before when she kissed him. Her fingers twitched with the memory of holding his warm face in her hand. She closed her hands into fists stubbornly and mentally scolded herself- if her parents could read her mind right now they would be appalled.

"Early, are we?" He drawled, closing the distance between them.

"Apparently so," she replied "It seems that the old tale of women taking longer to get ready than men is just a myth." He smirked at her.

"Enough cheek Weasley." He said sternly, holding out his hand for her "Now, take my hand so we can get this damn visit over with."

In the blink of an eye Ginny and Severus found them selves in the entrance hall of Meridwell's Hospital for Babies and Expectant Witches. Ginny's eyes scanned the room to see numerous families bustling around, with newborn babies in arms or expectant mothers nearly ready to give birth. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to push back her bitterness at seeing such happy families. After a few seconds she felt Severus tugging her to the left. Her eyes snapped open to see him dragging her towards the reception desk. When they came to a halt he waited until the clerk noticed their presence to voice his request.

"Could you please tell me where Nymphadora Lupin is?" He drawled, Ginny looked up at him and was not shocked to see a bored look on his face. In all fairness he had never struck her as the baby-loving type. The lady looked through a big leather bound book in front of her and then gave Severus directions.

As they made their way over elevators much like the ones at the Ministry of Magic Ginny tried to ignore the nagging depression growing in the pit of her stomach. She would never have this with Harry. She doubted that she would be lucky enough to have it at all. The tears were welling up in her eyes but she scrunched her eyes shut tightly refusing to let them free. A warm hand grasped her own and gave it a tight squeeze, a reassuring reminder of live outside her own mind. She opened her eyes and looked over at Severus. Suppressing the surprised look on her face she smiled at him.

"Lift is here. If you don't want to do this I am sure they will understand." He said in is deep baritone voice. She shook her head.

"It's ok. I really need to do this. Plus, unlike you, I love babies." She added the last bit with a cheeky smile. She opened the elevator grate with her free hand and pulled him into the lift. "Stop trying to use me as an excuse to get out of it." She added softly.

Severus smirked at her comment. While she was having moments of melancholy hearing snarky little comments like that showed that she was making progress. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt that taking her hand would be an appropriate course of action. But as soon as he did he saw it was the right thing to do. Perhaps the lack of human comfort was one of the reasons he took so long to recover. He snuck a glance at their hands clasped together and wondered if he should pull away. Would that make her angry? The last thing she needed was to feel rejected by him when she was already feeling so much loss. He decided to loosen his grip slightly and pass the onus of the decision on to Ginevra.

Ginny felt Severus' grip loosen and then it occurred to her that she was still holding his hand. Ginny Weasley holding the hand of Severus Snape. While the idea itself was completely alien it somehow seemed fitting in her new reality. Nothing was as it used to be, why should this be any different? She knew she should probably let go. She guessed that him lessening the pressure meant that he was probably reluctant to pull away in fear of upsetting her further. Ginny did not want to let go. It was a selfish decision but the warmth and contact was too reassuring to give up of her own free will. He usually had no problem speaking his mind so if he really wanted to pull away he would just have to do it of his own account.

Ginny hadn't paid attention to the Welcome Witch's directions so she was glad that Snape was happy to lead the way. They turned corner after corner with the sounds of people talking and tiny babies crying until he finally looked at a plaque outside a room and nodded. He pulled her around the corner and Ginny couldn't help but smile.

Remus was sitting on the Edge of Tonks' bed with his arm around his wife. Tonks' bright pink hair framed her beaming, heart-shaped face. They were both looking down at the tiny bundle in Tonks' arms with an unspeakable amount of amazement and adoration in their eyes. Ginny's breath caught in her throat and she bit her lip. She was not going to cry and ruin this beautiful moment. Her grip on Severus' hand involuntarily tightened and he looked down at her with a blank expression on his face but a strange emotion danced behind his black eyes. He took a step forward and the magic of the scene was dispelled. The happy couple looked up at them and Tonks grinned.

"You both came!" She said, the pleasure and excitement clear in her voice. Remus smiled as well and rubbed his wife's back. His smile faltered for a moment when he noticed their clasped hands and Ginny quickly felt Severus withdraw from her grasp.

"Congratulations!" Ginny said rushing forward to give them both a hug.

* * *

Half an hour later Ginny was holding the gorgeous little Andromeda in her arms. Her slight weight and sweet scent filling Ginny's heart with warmth. She was pleased that she didn't even need to ask to hold the newborn. Andromeda's soft blue eyes stared at the great big unknown around her with such innocence.

Since arriving in the room Severus had not said much other than the necessary congratulations. He sat in his chair looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable. That strange emotion Ginny had seen in his eyes was still there and she was wondering what it was. She caught his eyes and smiled and he gave a slight nod in return.

"We would like to ask you both something." Remus said, his voice distracting Ginny from her pondering. She looked up at him and Severus did too. Her stomach dropped. Did they know that she had kissed him last night? What would they think about that? She didn't even know what to think about it herself. Severus looked up with his usual unreadable expression. "We were wondering if you two would be willing to be Andromeda's godparents?"

Severus could not maintain his mask of polite indifference. Instead it was replaced by genuine shock. Him- a godfather? Surely they were mistaken. Perhaps they were just asking him knowing that he would say no. He looked over at Ginny to see that, while she looked surprised she was clearly ecstatic. She looked down at the child in her arms with a big grin,

"Really?" Ginny asked, the new parents nodded at her. "Yes! Yes- absolutely!" She replied with enthusiasm. She looked over at him with a sheen of tears in her eyes. He looked at the new parents and it appeared that they were also looking at him. Apparently everyone except for Andromeda had acquired a sudden interest in him. They were all waiting for him to say something.

"Me?" He spoke the first word that had come to his mind. Remus let out a small laugh.

"It was Remus' idea." Tonks said giving him a small smile. Judging by her expression the request was genuine. And she really was a terrible liar.

"Yes... Well," Remus started before clearing his throat "You don't need to feel obliged to say yes just because we asked. But... Merlin I hate to admit this." He ran his hand through his hair and Severus had to stop himself from smirking and displaying just how much he enjoyed seeing Remus so awkward. "Well, it's just that I have never had a problem with you. While James and Sirius were, well, let's just say unkind; I never truly shared that sentiment. Sure you were snarky, and rude, and nosey but as you have shown in the past couple of years you are also resourceful and intelligent. And somewhere deep down-"

"Very deep down!" Tonks added with a cheeky grin which earned her a disapproving look from Remus.

"I do believe you have a good heart." Remus finished. Severus was flabbergasted. No one had ever said anything even remotely so positive to him.

"Surely there are plenty of other more suitable contenders." Severus drawled. Remus looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Severus then realised what a thoughtless comment that was. Sure there were other contenders, but most of them had suffered greatly or passed away because of the war.

"Well, Nymphadora does have a couple of distant cousins, but as I am sure you are aware they are hardly suitable. And I do also have some family that I could ask but it just doesn't seem right." Lupin reasoned.

"Surely any one of them would be a better influence on a child than myself." Severus replied, Lupin shrugged.

"Now you are just fishing for compliments," Remus sighed "Look, like I said you don't have to do this if you don't want to but we chose you for a reason. Not only did you look out, to the best of your ability, for Harry's safety at Hogwarts, but you brewed me the wolfsbane potion while I was teaching and even up until this day without asking for anything in return. You watched over Draco even though he shouldn't have been your responsibility and now..." His voice trailed off and he avoided looking at Ginny, even though they all knew what he wanted to say next. Severus sighed and sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Like he said," Tonks added "Don't feel obliged to agree but we both feel you would be suitable. You don't have to decide now though. Take some time to think about it."

On the other side of the room Ginny got to her feet and walked over to Severus while rocking the little witch in her arms. She grinned at him.

"Here you go Severus, hold your Goddaughter." Ginny placed the baby in his folded arms.

"Well," Severus said looking at the tiny baby with blue eyes and mousy brown hair "I guess that solves it."

* * *

A/N: Obscenely long wait. You all have my sincerest apologies but life is crazy at the moment. I was going to wait until finishing this fic to post chapters up again so I could honestly promise to be more consistent with my updates but I decided not to keep you waiting. At the moment I do intend to finish this over the next two weeks as I hate leaving things unfinished. But I can't promise life won't get in the way. I am also sorry for the formatting. It has been a long while since I have been on so I don't really know how to make it any easier on the eyes!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!


	6. Reflection

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Six:** Reflection

_"Like he said," Tonks added "Don't feel obliged to agree but we both feel you would be suitable. You don't have to decide now though. Take some time to think about it."_

_On the other side of the room Ginny got to her feet and walked over to Severus while rocking the little witch in her arms. She grinned at him._

_"Here you go Severus, hold your Goddaughter." Ginny placed the baby in his folded arms._

_"Well," Severus said looking at the tiny baby with blue eyes and mousy brown hair "I guess that solves it."_

That evening Ginny and Severus sat at opposite sides of the kitchen table eating their dinner in silence. After returning home from the hospital that morning they both made an awkward attempt to excuse themselves from the others presence in order to avoid the possibility of having to talk about the previous night.

After Ginny had retreated to her room Severus walked past on his way to the bathroom and had to restrain himself from going in when he heard quiet sobs through the door. She had held up extremely well at the hospital so it was understandable that when she got home she would need some time to cope with her day. Even for Severus the visit to the hospital had been quiet overwhelming.

He had never enjoyed being in the presence of babies. They always seemed too fragile and unreadable. He was also slightly unnerved by the way in which some infants looked into your eyes and seemed to see past your defenses.

In his younger years he always figured that he would have children if his wife wanted to, but he would never have been the first one to suggest the idea. But after losing Lily to the insufferable James Potter he gave up on relationships all together, and with it the possibility of marriage and children. The hurt and pain of losing someone he loved so dearly showed him that opening himself up to another would only leave him vulnerable again, and there was no way he was going to risk putting himself into that situation.

He was incredibly shocked when Remus and Tonks asked him to be a godfather. Despite his bitterness towards all of the so-called 'marauders' he did have to admit that Remus had never taken part in any of Sirius and James' taunting. He was intending to say no before Ginny made the decision for him. Normally he would have been very annoyed with someone for speaking on his behalf but he decided that not it made the Lupins happy and at least the child had one good godparent.

Remus' speech got him thinking about the reasons that they had chosen him. In his own mind looking after Harry was a way to repay the boy for causing the loss of his parents as well as a sense of duty towards Lily's son- despite how annoying he was. He had to admit that he watched over Draco at Dumbledore's request. He did have the choice to say no but he did not want to see another young soul lost to Voldemort's corruption. Draco could be manipulative and cowardly but he didn't deserve to suffer through life with the burdens that being a true Death Eater would place on him.

And Ginny... He glanced up at the redhead across the table from him. He was tempted to claim that his reason for helping her through her pain was because she reminded him of Lily. At first that was the reason. When he arrived at Godric's Hollow and found Ginny crying after porting the bodies back he had a flashback to his younger years. When he told Voldemort the prophecy he foolishly assumed that he would not hurt Lily. He fantasized that when he arrived she would be weeping over the body of her husband and then he, Severus, would be the one to bring her back from the brink of despair. After seeing how much he cared for her and helped her she would have come back to him and forgiven him for all of his mistakes.

But Ginny was not Lily and Harry was not James. Severus had to acknowledge that Harry had turned out to be a better man than his father. While he was thick, overly courageous and somewhat conceited, Harry had never had the cruel streak that his father had displayed. And Ginny, well, she was twenty-one years his junior. Throughout her schooling she had displayed a different aptitude than Lily had. She was more fiery and outspoken where as Lily was very private and confident. Lily would never have said yes to Remus and Tonks in his place, she would have waited until they got home and then talked him into it.

"Where are you?" Ginny asked him between spoonfuls of soup. He was pulled from his thoughts by her voice.

"What do you mean?" He asked breaking off a piece of his bread and dipping it into his bowl.

"It's just that you looked as though you were lost in memories." She said, he nodded slightly, not wanting to say anything. She gave him a small smile and looked down at her bowl.

When Severus thought about it she didn't look that much like Lily. Not really. Lily was tall and slender with clear white skin, piercing emerald eyes and a dark red hair. Ginny was shorter and more curvaceous, a small splattering of very light freckles covered her nose and her face was framed by hair that was much more vibrant than Lily's. And she kissed differently too. Severus shifted in his chair uncomfortably as his treacherous body reacted yet again to the memory of her lips on his, her hand combing through his hair and running down his back. He looked up at her to find she was looking at him, she quickly looked away though.

* * *

Later that evening Severus walked into the lounge room to try to find a book that he had left in there a few days ago. The fireplace was roaring and spreading a pleasant heat through the room. He walked to the bookcase closet to the door and started looking through the titles to see if Tonks or Remus had put the book in there mistakenly. Halfway through his search the sound of footsteps made him turn in time to see Ginny walk into the room. She had the copy of Beedle the Bard that he had given her. She looked at the book in her hand and then up at him and a crimson blush spread across her cheeks. He stood upright and cleared his throat.

"I see you are reading the book I gave you." He drawled with a nod at the book.

"It brings back wonderful memories." She replied, staring into his eyes. They stood there for a minute, neither one wanting to be the one to break eye contact. Severus refused to let her see the effect she had on him. Finally she shrugged and made her way over to a chair near the fire, sinking down into a comfortable looking position and opening her book. He cleared his throat and continued to search for his book on the shelves nearby.

"Goodnight Ginevra." He said when he finally located his book, he snatched it off the side table and made his way over to the door.

"You don't have to go." Her voice cut clearly through the sound of the crackling fire. He hesitated on the threshold. "Well, it's just that it is so much warmer in here than it is in the rest of the house, and it would be silly not to sit and read in here just because..." She trailed off and her face flushed. She quickly became engrossed in her book again.

He didn't want to talk about it. He really did want to forget it. He went to take another step but then could not resist the urge to turn around. He walked over until he was standing in front of her chair.

"Because of what, Ginevra?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper. She looked up at him and bit her lip before standing up quickly.

"Y-you were here first, I should be the one to leave." She brushed past him and made her way to the door. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"We both have equal claim to this room Ginevra, surely we can share it amiably." He could feel a slight shake in her shoulders.

"No, no.. it's ok. I am tired anyway." She whispered, he kept a firm grip on her shoulder and after a few seconds she turned to face him. Her eyes were filled with soon to be shed tears.

"Ginny, please," He motioned to the arm chair she was sitting in and she walked back over to it slowly before slumping into it's cushions. He took the chair opposite of her. "Last night was, well, I understand..." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I shouldn't have surprised you with that," he pointed to the book clasped tightly in her hand "after such an emotional day." She looked down at the floor.

"The book didn't surprise me." She said softly before looking up at him. A tear had escaped from each beautiful brown eye and trailed down her face. "You did."

Severus felt an emptiness in the pit of his stomach, his throat felt thick all of a sudden. She looked into her eyes and saw no deception there. His hands tightened into fists and he looked away from her.

"Ever since you brought me here you have been looking out for me." She started, "I never thought that you- of all people- would care. You say that you have faced loss as well, and I believe you; you say exactly what I need to hear... Not what I want to hear. Tonks and Remus, bless them, didn't have the guts to tell me what you did." He looked up at her as she spoke to him now, he was not some shy teenager that could not meet the gaze of an equal.

"And yesterday, at Diagon Alley, you were so kind. You weren't pushy and snarky, but calm and considerate. After all the years at school I just assumed... But- you aren't like that, are you?" She implored, her brown eyes searching his for something that wasn't there.

"Ginevra. Please don't be like Tonks and Remus and overanalyse my actions." He said, her lower lip trembled "Those examples they used today... Harry- well, he was Lily's son. And Draco? Inside he has a good heart. He was just acting out after years of prejudice and pressure from his family." Her tears fell faster as he talked and his heart rate doubled its pace.

"And me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. He stood up and flicked some dust off his pants.

"You needed help." He said simply. She stood up suddenly and ran towards the door. She stopped when she reached the threshold and turned to face him. Her tears trailing down her cheeks freely and her eyes wild with emotion.

"No Severus. You are the one that needs help. You say that you are over your losses, but you are just as caught up in them as I am in mine." She cried before fleeing down the hall. Severus closed his eyes and silently cursed.

* * *

The rejection stung. Ginny curled up on her bed and refused to give in to the wracking sobs that were desperate to escape from her. Why did she think that he had cared for her? He was Professor Severus Snape, crabby old dungeon bat, uncaring and indifferent. She was the one who had kissed him, not the other way around, he was just an unwilling recipient of her affection.

She had started to think that she had found a small adopted family at Grimmauld Place. They were all tied together by their relationships with ones who had passed on. While, in their previous lives, they would have had very little to do with each other their common suffering acted as a cement that bound them together. They were, quiet simply put, all that each other had left from memories of better times.

Clearly she was wrong.

It was a long while before she managed to fall into a restless slumber. She wasn't aware that, in a room not too far from her own, Severus Snape was feeling worse than she was.


	7. Explanation

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Seven:** Explanation

* * *

_It was a long while before she managed to fall into a restless slumber. She wasn't aware that, in a room not too far from her own, Severus Snape was feeling worse than she was._

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the birth of Andromeda and the house was either filled with the sounds of a baby crying and parents bustling through the house, or absolute silence. The two extremes were also reflected in the behaviour of Ginny Weasley. After the talk that Severus had with her on the night of Andromeda's birth, she had taken to leaving her room only when Tonks, Remus and the baby were moving about the house. If the new parents did not turn up for dinner, neither did she.

On the few occasions that he had been in the same room as Ginny for more than a minute he had seen that she had developed a deep affection for the little baby that had moved into Grimmauld Place. There was even one instance where she was so distracted by the infant that she was in the same room as him for an entire five minutes.

Severus noticed that tiny Andromeda had become a very consuming housemate. On the odd occasion the baby had been thrust into his arms when either Remus or Nymphadora needed to rush off and do something. He wouldn't say that he was becoming more comfortable with her, just less tense. When he had originally found her small and fragile he now came to realise that while she was small and slight she held a presence that was firm and real.

Severus had also come to the conclusion that Remus and Tonks had guessed that something had transpired between Ginevra and himself. Whenever he entered a room and she fled they would shoot him a questioning look that he pretended not to notice.

Severus was sitting in the kitchen one morning reading the Daily Prophet when Remus came in. The man nodded a hello in his direction before making a beeline to the kettle.

"It's hot." Severus said, saving the man the hassle of boiling it himself. Remus smiled appreciatively and made himself a cup of coffee before taking a seat at the table.

"Severus." Remus began after taking his first sip of coffee. Severus looked up from his paper to meet the man's brown eyes.

"Remus." Severus returned flippantly. Remus sighed.

"What happened?" Remus asked. _Very direct_ thought Severus.

"I have no idea what you are referring to." Severus replied before concentrating on his paper again.

"Honestly Severus don't be daft." Remus huffed rubbing his eyes. "Nymphadora and I both noticed that you were holding Ginny's hand when you came to visit the hospital and since coming home we haven't seen you both in the same room for longer than five minutes!" Severus head snapped up and he glared at his old school mate.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He drawled, tone indicating that it would be best to change topics.

"Don't bother trying to intimidate me you old fool." Remus sighed "We also noticed that she had been talking to you a lot, and that you let her make the decision to become Andromeda's godfather for you. Don't waste your breath trying to pretend nothing happened. I'm too tired to waste time on games."

"Then I won't." Severus replied sharply. His chair scraped loudly against the ground as he pushed it away from the table. He stood and snatched his paper up from the table.

"Well, before you stalk out of the room, just let me say something." Remus said, Severus glared at him "Lily is gone Severus. You know that. And she did love James. I don't know what old fantasy you are clinging to, but it is high time you got over it. There is no need to hold to such debilitating bitterness and go through life alone when there are people willing to journey with you." Severus felt a red hot rage run through his veins. He slammed his paper down on the table.

"Don't you dare presume to know what my life is about!" Severus growled, his voice deadly. "You are in no position to tell me about my fantasies and bitterness. Just because you found yourself a lovely young wife and were blessed with a beautiful daughter does not mean you have the right to preach to me! You- know- NOTHING about me!"

"You know what?" Remus shouted, getting to his feet to be on an even playing field with Severus. "You are not merely as mysterious as you think you are. Yes, it is clear you have had a painful past, but who hasn't in this god forsaken house? Your father may have been a drunken bastard, and you may have lost the love of your life but that was years ago. You need to step up and rise above that, otherwise you will die a lonely, bitter, old man" Severus tore his wand from his back pocket and pointed it at Remus' chest. The man ignored the obvious threat and continued his tirade.

"I was five when that bastard Greyback mauled me. Five Severus! Since that day only a small handful of people have been _brave_ enough to befriend me. Every bloody month I turn into a beast- and do you know what; while in an unmedicated form I would maul my own tiny daughter to death and not know any better!" Severus lowered his wand slightly. "You think you know pain, Severus? You are not the only one! You weren't the only one that lost Lily. She was my dear friend as well, and one of the very few people who risked herself to be near me!" Severus' breathing became heavier at the mention of Lily's name, his anger rising another notch.

"And you mention my lovely young wife? Do you know why I am with her Severus? Because I got the fuck over myself!" Remus shouted the last word before storming out of the kitchen leaving a fuming Severus in his wake.

* * *

Since her argument with Severus two weeks ago Ginny had tucked the book he had given her into the corner of her cupboard and taken to reading old muggle books left in the room Hermione used while she stayed here. Earlier that day she had taken a break from her reading to try and decipher the shouts coming from downstairs. It had seems that Severus and Lupin had disagreed about something and, from what she could gather, Remus had the last word.

"Serves the crabby bastard right." Ginny muttered to herself as she brushed her hair. She tied her hair back into a tight plait and snuggled under her bed covers, hoping that she would not have any dreams. She wanted to simply close her eyes now and open them in the morning without the cursed nightmares in between.

Ginny drifted off to sleep after ten minutes and it seemed that she had gotten her wish of a dreamless sleep. However, when her bedroom door creaked open around midnight she sat up in her bed quickly and looked towards her door to see Snape standing there with a dim lantern in his hands.

"What do you want?" She asked, adding enough bite into her sleepy voice to let him know he wasn't welcome.

"I think we need to talk." He said gravely. She laughed.

"Sod off Snape." She snapped before laying back down and pulling the covers back up around her neck. She heard his footsteps as he made his way over to her and felt the sag of her bed as he sat down beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut hoping that if she ignored him he would disappear and she could go back to sleep.

"Lily Evan's was my best friend." He begun in a determined voice. "We met years before we went to Hogwarts. Before even knowing she was a witch she was already very talented. It took me a long time to approach her. When I finally did it all went wrong. But, after a couple more tries she became curious to see what I had to say about magic and Hogwarts. It wasn't long before we became good friends."

Ginny sat up and looked at him. He had put the lantern on her bedside table and its dim light was not enough for her to properly read the expression on his face. She wondered why he had come in to her room to talk to her all of a sudden.

"My early life wasn't something that I look back on with much fondness. My mother was a good lady but she lived in fear of my father. He was a bitter drunkard, his whole family were alcoholics and after a time he came to resent my mother for her magical abilities. Can you imagine that Ginevra?" He asked, face turning in the dark, the light reflecting in his deep eyes. "A witch afraid of a muggle?" Ginny looked away, not knowing what to say- if anything at all.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked, trying not to sound angry. After the way he had treated her she decided it would be best not to bother investing too much of her energy in him. She had thought that he had cared for her, but the way he had treated her showed her otherwise.

"Please- just listen." He said, it was clear from his half-growl that he was trying not to get angry. She let out a grumpy sigh and pulled her pillow onto her lap.

"Continue." She said in a mock gracious tone.

"When we got to Hogwarts we were sorted into different houses. In addition to being her friend I found that there were people who, in Slytherin, understood me in a different way to Lily. Where Lily, beautiful Lily, was full of sympathy and compassion- my Slytherin friends understood and fuelled my resentment towards my father. With their help I came to believe that all muggles were like him." He spat with regret "Lily and I maintained our friendship despite mocking and laughter from both sets of our friends. She loathed my friends and I resented her for being in the same house as the almighty James Potter and the dashing Sirius Black. They set out to make my life at school a living hell and when Lily was there she was always standing up for me."

"I don't know when it happened, but at some stage, I realised that I loved Lily." He stopped when Ginny let out a small gasp of shock. She quickly bit her lip. For Snape and Lily to be friends was strange enough- but for him to love her? It was completely unexpected.

"Sorry. Please, continue." She said apologetically.

"Thankyou." He said with a curt nod. "It took me a while to convince her that we should be boyfriend and girlfriend. It lasted almost all of our fifth year. The best and worst year of my life." His voice had become uncharacteristically thick with emotion and memories. "My only problem was that she had requested that we keep it secret. She said that she did not want people to carry on about something- because they would- that was only our business. Over time I became suspicious... I knew that Potter had been trying to capture her affection. I didn't know whether he did it because he knew I liked her, or he was genuinely interested." He shifted his weight on her bed and his back slumped slightly.

"Why he was interested in her didn't matter. I became convinced that the reason that Lily didn't want to be with me was because she was embarrassed about it. In truth, it was probably because she very private person, I should have seen that earlier..." his voice caught in his throat.

Severus sat there in silence for a few minutes and Ginny didn't need to see his face to know that continuing with his story was going to cause him some sort of pain. She shuffled closer to him so that her knee was touching his back through her blanket.

"After one of my O.W.L's James and Sirius decided it would be a wonderful time to make an example of me, yet again, in front of most of the people in our form. Lily walked out just in time to catch them in the act and scolded them for it. At that moment her kindness was too much. In my younger years I was intensely proud. The fact that she had seen me at the height of my embarrassment was too much to handle. That, mingled with my building resentment and suspicions about our relationship, made me furious. I didn't need her to defend me. I was one of the most talented wizards at Hogwarts at that time. I did not need her to stand up for me..." His voice wavered and there was another long cause before continuing.

"I called her a Mudblood." He said, Ginny's mouth opened in shock but she was able to contain her surprise better this time. He was not looking at her so he couldn't see her expression, nor could he see the anger rising in her eyes. She hated that word. Even though she was a pureblood she hated all forms of blood superiority. It was unnecessary, shallow and crude.

"I made a mistake that day Ginny. As I have been making them ever since." He said voice quavering, he didn't bother trying to hide it. "I begged for her forgiveness. I went around to her house during the holidays to try and talk to her. She didn't want to be near me. She said that she was tired of making excuses for me. She knew that my friends and I had a growing distaste towards muggles, and that we were interested in the dark arts. She said that I was going to join Voldemort. I wasn't. At that stage I honestly had no intention to associate with him. I was prejudiced, yes, but not an extremist."

Snape shifted on the bed and turned to face Ginny. Their eyes met in the dark for a few moments.

"For two years I tried to make it up to her. I wanted to show her I could be different." He spat bitterly. But at the end of seventh year she and James Potter announced that they were in a relationship. They sat together at meals, paraded around the halls hand in hand, he even flew up to the stands and pulled her onto his broom to kiss her when they won the Quidditch Cup. The whole school was abuzz with details of their glorious whirlwind romance." He growled, Ginny could see in the dim light that his entire body was tense.

"It was too much. If she was going to be with him so openly then she was never truly in love with me. I figured that she never gave half a fuck about me. She believed that I was going to become a Death Eater? That I was that evil? I would show her. I knew that by joining the Order I would hurt her. I wanted to teach her a lesson."

Before the low light of the lamp had barely reflected in his eyes. Now that they were filled with unshed tears his eyes caught all of the light thrown at them and reflected his sorrow brightly.

"I joined Voldemort. I told him the prophecy... Ginny- I was the reason that she-" he stopped for a moment "that _they_ died. I thought that, with James out of the way, she would come back to me. He was, after all, completely wrong for her."

Ginny was completely shocked. So many misinterpretations. So many bad decisions made because of poorly perceived events. She had no idea that Snape's life was so intertwined with the Potter's. He was the one that told Voldemort about the prophecy.

All of a sudden things begun to click into place. Severus' hatred of Sirius, Remus and the Potters. His resentment towards Harry... In his shoes there would be a lot of people who would have become bitter and withdrawn. Without a supportive family base to turn to Severus really had no one to care for, or about, him. Ginny could imagine that the sense of misguided belonging a person felt when they became a Death Eater would have surely been better than not having anything at all. It was times like these when she was ever more grateful for her beautiful family.

Ginny hands clenched into fists around her blanket as her mind whirled. If for Severus and the people that he associated with she, and lots of other people, would still have their families intact. She took a deep breath- she couldn't think like that. Even if Severus wasn't the one to give Voldemort the prophecy, he probably would have accessed it somehow. There was nothing to say that anything would have ended up differently had Severus chosen a different path.

"You asked why I am telling you this?" He whispered, she gave a slight nod in confirmation, not trusting herself to speak. "I have made too many mistakes Ginny. I did not want to make another one that I would live to regret." His hand slid across the covers of her bed and he took her hand in his. S"I have a terrible habit of hurting those people I care for, and who care for in return. I am tired of it. It is time I let my bitterness and regrets go."

Even though it was Severus' eyes who were filled to brimming, it was Ginny who cried. With a final squeeze of her hand Severus got to his feet and freed himself from her.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. Considering the way I have treated you I do not deserve that. But you said that I was still caught up in my own losses and, curse it, you were right." With that he took his lantern in hand and walked out of the room.

Without thinking Ginny ran to the door and stood in the hallway.

"Severus!" She called after him. He stopped in his tracks. "Perhaps we can help each other." She said softly.

"Good night, Ginevra." He said before walking away down the hall.

"Good night Severus." She whispered.


	8. Saint Mungo's

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Eight:** Saint Mungo's

_Even though it was Severus' eyes who were filled to brimming, it was Ginny who cried. With a final squeeze of her hand Severus got to his feet and freed himself from her._

"_I don't expect you to forgive me. Considering the way I have treated you I do not deserve that. But you said that I was still caught up in my own losses and, curse it, you were right." With that he took his lantern in hand and walked out of the room._

_Without thinking Ginny ran to the door and stood in the hallway._

"_Severus!" She called after him. He stopped in his tracks. "Perhaps we can help each other." She said softly. _

"_Good night, Ginevra." He said before walking away down the hall._

"_Good night Severus." She whispered._

* * *

The next morning Severus woke around seven and rubbed his eyes. His lids felt heavy and gritty. The previous night he had thought that his talk with Ginny would have helped him get to sleep. He had hoped that opening up to her, and letting his troubles loose, he would feel some sort of release. A catharsis. Now he was more concerned about what Ginny's reaction would be.

He hadn't expected any sort of coherent response from her last night. He thought it was lucky enough that she didn't kick him out of her room immediately. That she sat there through his explanation said a lot for either her patience- or just how tired she was.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. She had said that they could help each other. Until his argument with Remus the previous morning he was convinced that he didn't need any help. How many people knew what he told Ginny? Only Dumbledore knew the complete story. Dumbledore was the only one he had trusted enough to divulge his history to, and only because he had needed the old man's help.

It had taken just over a decade for Dumbledore to trust him properly. That was how long it took to prove that he had truly learnt something from his mistakes. Ironically enough it had been Severus' protection of Harry Potter that had shown Dumbledore that he truly did regret his past actions. Ever since then Severus had been Dumbledore's most trusted accomplice. Sometimes, however, Dumbledore took his unwavering loyalty for granted.

Severus sighed and got out of bed. He riffled through his draws for some clean clothes and decided that a nice hot shower was in order.

* * *

The shower was nice, but the calming effect didn't last long enough to reduce the tension in the kitchen that morning. Everyone in the household, including little Andromeda, was seated around the table eating their breakfast. The only sounds in the room was the crunching of toast, swallowing of food, and an occasional grunt from the baby.

Tonks was doing her best to avoid looking at anyone other than Ginny. No doubt she had heard all about Severus and Remus' argument. Remus was clearly still annoyed with Severus, but the odd furtive look between Ginny and Severus showed that he was aware that something must have happened, as she had not up and left as soon as he entered the room.

Occasionally Severus would catch Ginny's eyes and the corner of her lips would turn up slightly before she looked back down at her food. For once since he had met her, she had managed to keep whatever she was thinking from her eyes. Normally her emotions shone through her eyes, making it clear whether she was impressed or angry. It seemed to be a typical Weasley trait. But now- nothing. Severus could not glean any insight from her. Perhaps she thought that last night had been a dream, or even nightmare. He wouldn't blame her if she dismissed their talk as just the obscure ramblings of her sleepy subconscious mind.

One of the kitchen chairs let out a high pitch scrape as Remus excused himself from the table, taking little Andromeda with him. Tonks used her wand to direct their dishes into the sink and then to drain before excusing herself and leaving the room.

"Saint Mungo's." Ginny said suddenly. Severus looked up at her and met her questioning gaze.

"What about it?" he asked, not sure what she where she was leading the conversation.

"I want to go there." She replied simply. Her direction dawned on him and now he didn't need to say any more than that. She wanted to go to the hospital and visit the remaining members of her family. In the months that had passed since the final battle she had not visited them. Severus couldn't blame her. It was one thing to know that someone was insane, but it was completely different to visit them and have this confirmed, and then for that new knowledge to take over old memories. In her words was an unspoken invitation. Severus didn't need to ask whether he was supposed to go with her. If she didn't want him along she wouldn't have mentioned it.

"When are we going?" He asked her. His question elicited a sweet smile from her which tugged at his heartstrings. She shrugged.

"After lunch seems as good a time as any." She said with fake nonchalance and a shrug. Severus stood and magicked his dishes into the sink to wash themselves.

"Very well. If I am not in the kitchen come to my room and get me, we can apparate together."

* * *

Ginny's senses took a moment to adjust as her feet landed on the solid ground in muggle London. She stood a mere two meters away from the window of what looked like a large, abandoned department store. Ginny knew, however, that behind the red brick facade was the St. Mungo's hospital. She took a deep breath and looked up at Severus. She could tell that she was looking at him out of the corner of his eye. He gave a slight nod in the direction of the oddly dressed mannequin in the window and they walked forward together. Severus had let go of her hand once they had apparated, but now his hand was resting softly on the small of her back guiding her towards the window. Ginny knew that the placement of his hands was more of a chivalrous and polite action but nevertheless she took comfort from his touch.

"Afternoon chaps!" Said the dummy in a cheery voice. "What can I do for ye both?" Severus looked down at her and Ginny knew that she had to be the one to do this. She had to ask to see her brothers. She cleared her throat.

"We're here to see the Ronald, Fred and George Weasley please..." She said much more quickly than she had intended to and afterwards let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Very well dear- go right on in the Welcome Witch will tell you where you'll find em!"

"Thanks." Ginny said and the dummy returned to a motionless state. His orange bowler hat tipping down over his eyes. She reached out tentatively with her left hand and her fingers slipped straight through the glass and disappeared into nothingness beyond. "Severus?" She turned to face him.

"Yes, Ginevra?" He drawled, she looked into his eyes.

"After this it won't be the same, will it?" Her voice broke at the end of the sentence and she silently cursed the fact that tears were forming in her eyes. She had spent the entire night thinking about everything. She had decided that this was what she wanted to do. It was only fair that she came to visit the family she had left, after they had sacrificed so much it just wouldn't do to pretend that they weren't there. That they would have been better off following their other family members beyond the veil.

"I won't lie to you." He said quietly "While you will always have the memories of your brothers before this day, what you see will stay with you. You just need to remember, that no matter how they act, they are still the same brothers you had before." His words wound their way into her ears and clawed at her mind confirming her fears and making her heart beet rapidly. The intensity of his eyes made her look away towards the street. Anywhere but the window.

"What you should focus on, though, is what your brothers will get out of seeing you. Ginny, I have no doubt that your visit will be invaluable to them. If you enter this hospital you do so not only for yourself, but those of your family who are still alive. You do it because you still love them, and that – in the same position- you know they would do the same for you." Ginny had to suppress a gasp as Severus' hand came up to gently wipe the tears of her cheek. He then put his fingers under her chin and rose his face so she was looking at him. "I will be right here next to you." He told her.

Ginny nodded and looked at the man in front of her. His voice wasn't tender like Harry's would have been in that situation. It was quiet but firm. As usual she couldn't gauge what he was thinking from the look in his eyes but the way that his hand lingered under her chin, that warm point of contact between them, showed that he cared. She put on a brave smile and stood up straighter. When she turned to face the window his hand resumed it's comforting position on the small of her back and they made their way together through the shop-front window.

* * *

The reception area was much quieter than the last time Severus had been here. Then, it had been a loud chaotic storm of people rushing through supporting or carrying injured and dying friends. He had not mentioned it to Ginny, but he had been the one to bring Ronald here.

It was too early then to tell how he would recover. As it was he was barely conscious. Since then, Severus had decided not to come back. He doubted that any of the Weasley boys would welcome a visit from their least-prefered, or more accurately- most hated- professor. He also wanted to respect the fact that a fair amount of the people that were in St. Mungo's were there because of something that a Death Eater had done to them. Even though, after Voldemort's death, Severus' name had been publically cleared he doubted that anyone would welcome his presence. The last thing he wanted was for a victim of a Death Eater to stumble across him and for that encounter to antagonise their condition further.

Severus pushed these thoughts as far away as he could as he walked towards the reception desk with Ginevra. He wasn't here for himself, or even Ron, Fred and George. He was here with Ginny because she needed him there. He had no illusions that she would not be able to do this on her own. She was much stronger than she gave herself credit for. But if Severus could be there to support her then that would make it slightly easier for her.

Severus had been the one who had brought the insufferable Gilderoy Lockhart to this place after the Chamber of Secrets incident. Much to his amazement, despite the popularity of the wizard, Lockhart had no next of kin or emergency contacts so the hospital had all but kidnapped Severus to stay around and sign paperwork and help out where he could.

Albus had contacted Gilderoy's agent immediately after the attack and told him that, knowing Gilderoy better, he would be much better suited to assist him in settling into hospital than Severus. Albus refused to divulge the exact words of the response of the agent but the message was clear; there was no love lost between author and agent, and the agent gave immediate priority to contacting the publicist and concocting a fantastical tale of how Gilderoy acquired his injuries that would ensure the public would rush to buy more books.

So it was that Severus had been dragged to the fourth floor and thrust into the ward that held the results of the destruction the Death Eaters had wrought. It wasn't that empathy was an ability that Severus was particularly skilled at, but it hadn't taken long for him to feel for some of the victims there. The Longbottoms, in particular, had been tortured by the Lestranges. He had been in the next room when it had happened so he knew all too well how thorough the Death Eaters had been. What if it were Lily and James sitting in their room now? After all it was only an accident of fate that it was Harry, and not Neville, who had become the chosen one.

Seeing the Longbottoms and some of the other patients of the fourth floor had only confirmed in his mind that a quick and painless death would have been his chosen path. His train of thought was derailed by a loud cough from the welcome witch. Severus had to suppress a sigh as he recognised the woman. Matilda Harper. She had been working here for over fifteen years and every time he came here she had recognised him. She had been in the same year as him at Hogwarts. Although she had grown somewhat rounder and grumpier since their school days she still had the same over-large eyes that she had always had. She used to remind him of a frog, and now he had to revise his description to toad. They had never been fond of each other, he being a Slytherin, and her a muggle-born Hufflepuff. But the fact that she knew as much about him as the general public plus some did would not bode well. She would know just as well as he did that there were people in here because of the malevolent spells of Death Eaters... And she would, like everyone else – thanks to the Daily Prophet- have known that he had mingled among their ranks for years. Despite the claim in the paper that Severus was, in fact, working for Dumbledore and against the Death Eaters for years did nothing to sway most people's automatic hatred towards him.

"Um... I'm here to see Fred, George and Ronald Weasley, please?" Ginny uttered in a quiet voice. Matilda looked at the redhead over the top of the thick glasses perched on the end of her nose.

"Name?" She croaked, Severus couldn't help but think that her voice suited her bulging eyes and puffed out cheeks.

"Ginny... Ginevra Weasley." Ginny replied. She took a minute step towards Severus and he looked at her more closely. She was doing very well- he knew however, that this was very stressful for her. He hoped that the anticipation was for naught and that her brothers weren't as bad as they both thought. Perhaps they had improved in the time that had passed since Tonks and Remus' last visit.

The witch looked down at the thick tome on her desk and read the words appearing there with undisguised interest. Her eyes snapped up and looked at Ginny more closely. Severus knew that the witch had realised that this was the Ginevra Weasley who had been engaged to _the_ Harry Potter.

"Miss Weasley.." The witch begun, the croak in her voice softened slightly "It looks as though this is the first time visiting your brothers?" Ginny nodded her confirmation in silence. "Very well. Your brother's healer has requested to meet with you to inform you of the situation, does this suit you?" She asked. Ginny looked up at Severus with imploring brown eyes, clearly surprised that a healer would need to consult with her and unsure of how to respond.

"Yes. Please." Severus responded for her. He considered that she had not yet considered that she would have become the next of kin for her remaining three brother and that she would now become their advocate.

The witches bulging eyes focused on Severus with contempt at his interruption.

"And you are?" The witch asked.

"Don't be a dolt Matilda- you know very well who-" Severus begun.

"NAME?" She near shouted, leaving Ginny looking at him questioningly and he rolled his eyes.

"Severus Sna-" he begun before the witch interrupted him a second time.

"Well that is all very well Mr. Snape but at the moment visitors have to be approved by the patients or next of kin. And you are most certainly _not_ on their list." The witch settled back in her chair with a deceptively sweet smile. "It seems as you will just have to wait out here while Miss Weasley visits her family."

"Please madam...I- He... I am sure my brothers won't mind." Ginny stammered looking at the witch imploringly, even though she was quiet clearly trying to hold herself together a tear slid down her cheek. Her hand found Severus and she gripped him tightly, warm fingers around his cold ones. The witch looked from Ginny to Severus and sighed.

"Very well, but it will be on your head if your brothers do not want him there." The witch said dismissively to Ginny "They are on the fourth floor, in ward forty nine." With a final contemptuous look at Severus she focused back on the book in front of her.

Severus and Ginny made their way through the waiting room and over to the elevators. There was one waiting for them so Severus opened the grate and motioned for Ginny to go in. Once in he shut the grate behind them and Ginny pushed the button. The ride up the levels felt triple the length it should have with the tacky department-store music floating through the speakers. With a jolt the elevator came to a stop.

"Floor Four. Spell damage." Announced a friendly female voice through the speakers.

Ginny stepped out of the lift and looked around. There were only a few people in healers robes walking around. There was a large sign on the wall in front of them with ward names and numbers printed on it in bold purple letters. She remembered it from the time she was here with Harry, Ron and Hermione when they visited her father. They had walked with Gilderoy Lockhart to this floor and run into Neville visiting his parents in the Janus Thickey ward. Ginny felt her knees buckle and leant against Severus for support.

"Ward forty nine!" She gasped "The Janus Thickey ward." She bit her lip- this was the ward for long-term residents...

"Ginny?" Severus turned and gripped her shoulders gently, looking into her eyes.

"Janus Thickey is for long-term residents Severus..." She said not meeting his gaze. He gave a small nod and took a step back from her, offering her his hand.

"Just remember you don't have to do this." He drawled in his best neutral voice. Ginny straightened up and took his hand.

"No. I have made it this far, I can't chicken out now." She said and led him down the hall in the direction of the arrows.

After finding out the number of the room that her brothers shared from the wizard at the desk at the entryway to the ward Ginny found herself hesitating just beside of the doorway. If she turned this corner she would have to come to terms with her brothers fate. As it was she knew nothing other than the fact that they had been 'driven mad' by the events of the battle (or so the Daily Prophet had reported). But this was hardly anything to go by. She should have prepared herself more. She knew nothing of their conditions. She should have asked Tonks or Remus about them, she knew they had visited them a couple of times since the final battle. How could she have been so self-absorbed? She cursed herself under her breath.

"Would you like me to wait out here?" Severus asked. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Surely he knew she needed him to stay with her. Perhaps he didn't want to see how her brothers were, either?

"No... not unless you want to." He nodded, he let go of her hand but stood closely enough to her so that she could feel his arm brush up against him. She resolutely took a step forward and turned to face the inside of the room.

Fred and George were playing a game of exploding snap on a table in the corner of the room. They looked thoroughly absorbed in their game and did not notice she was in the doorway. Ron, on the other hand, looked up from the book he was reading and grinned from ear to ear. His flaming red hair and freckles just the way Ginny had remembered them.

"Ginny!" He called out excitedly. Ginny smiled and ran over to her brother pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. Now he couldn't stop the tears from falling from her eyes.

"Ginny?" Ron's voice whispered into here ear.

"Mmm?"

"What in the name of Merlin's left testicle is _he_ doing here?" Ginny pulled away from Ron and turned to see who he was looking at. Their ex-potions master stood in the doorway. If it had been anyone else Ginny would have said that he looked awkward, but Severus wasn't anyone else, despite being completely out of place he was composed and seemed for all intents and purposes like he was supposed to be there. Joy grew in her heart, while Fred and George had ignored her Ron seemed like himself. She felt some of her fears drain away- perhaps it wasn't as bad as the Prophet had said. Or as bad as she had imagined.

"Severus?" She asked Ron with a small laugh. "Er- nothing. Just here to see you boys. He brought me here." She told him, Ron's eyebrows raised quizzically.

"What about Harry?" Ron asked. Ginny felt the world spin around her and she fell. Instead of the harsh impact of the hospital floor she felt strong arms catch her from behind and she was gently lowered into a chair next to Ron.

"Harry?" She breathed, looking into her brother's eyes. Ron Rolled his eyes.

"Yes Harry, you nong! You know- Harry, your fiancé?" Ron said sarcastically. "I would have thought him and 'Mione would have come along with you instead of..." He nodded towards Severus. "Anyway- where are those two, they were supposed to come and get me when they had a chance." He leant close to Ginny whose earlier joy had fled from her system faster than a Firebolt and left a hollow feeling through her entire body.

"You know," he whispered conspiratorially "The only reason they are keeping me here is because of those two," He angled his head towards Fred and George who were still intent on their game "I'm all healed up- see!" He held his arm out to her and there was a long, puckered pink welt running from wrist into the armhole of his tshirt. "But those two..." He shook his head sadly. "Ginny-" He looked into her eyes, brown eyes melting brown "The doctor's say they'll never be right again."

Severus watched as Ginny suddenly pulled away from her whispered conversation with her brothers and her whole body convulsed, wracked with violent sobs. He took a step around her chair and went to comfort her but Ron was quicker. He fell to his knees in front of Ginny's chair and wrapped his arms around her.

"I know it is horrible Ginny, with the other's gone and all that." Ron said, sadness in his own voice, "But you, me, Harry and Hermione can be there for them." Ginny's sobs increased with his words.

A loud bang in the corner of the room shocked the two visitors and Ron out of their misery. Severus looked over and saw that the game of exploding snap was over. Ginny stood quickly and walked over to Fred and George, Severus was hot on her heels. The two boys looked straight through her before silently returning to their game. Ginny fell to her knees and Severus squatted down and rubbed her back.

"Oh Severus!" She whispered through her sobs, her fists clenched against her eyes. Before Severus could say anything there was a loud groan coming from beside the door.

"What in the name of Merlin?" A harried looking wizard in healer's robes cried out before rushing into the room and to Ginny's side.

"Heya Doc!" Called Ron before looking at his sister with pity, the healer smiled at Ron in acknowledgement.

"Sorry about this." The Wizard begun squatting down on the other side of Ginny "Matilda was supposed to tell you to wait for me before coming in!" He said putting a hand on Ginny's shoulders. Severus felt a surge of hot rage run through his veins. That witch would have known that a healer wanted to see Ginny_ before_ she saw her brothers, and the bitch just let them walk up here and into this parallel universe. Severus stomach dropped as he realised that it was probably because he was there. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her and even without trying his mere presence had caused her grief.

"Miss Weasley?" the healer said in a soft voice, "Please come with me." The healer stood and offered her his hand, but instead Ginny reached out for Severus and together they got to their feet. They followed the healer out of the room and past the ward common room, down a narrow hallway and into a small office. He motioned for them to sit two chairs infront of his desk before seating himself behind it. On the walk Ginny had scrubbed her face dry of her tears and her sobs had subsided to an occasional sniff.

"I have to say that I am truly sorry that I did not get a chance to talk to you before you saw your brothers." The healer begun. "Now, my name is Cassius Boulstridge, and I am the healer that has been working with Fred, George and Ronald since they were admitted." Cassius only looked quiet young, no older than thirty, Severus guessed. He had piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair. His voice was the typical calm and centred voice that all healers seemed to posses.

"Ron.." Ginny begun, her voice broke but she took a deep breath and seemed to force herself to continue "He thought that- that Harry and Hermione..." Cassius nodded and frowned slightly.

"I don't know what you have been told, Miss Weasley," he begun "but I am pretty sure that you didn't know quiet what to expect. In school we are taught that people who suffered extensive damage from the Cruciatus curse withdraw into themselves and usually this is how our Cruciated patients tend to present. This is what you see in Fred and George. They were both under the curse for an extensive period of time and, as a result, have incurred what will most likely be permanent brain damage. However," He waited until this information sunk in and she looked up into his eyes "Your brother Ron only suffered minor physical damage from the Cruciatus curse. From what we could tell of his physical condition when he reached us he had not been under the effects of the curse for very long." The healer waited for this to sink in.

"So... what is it?" Ginny asked looking imploringly at the man on the other side of the desk. Severus watched with interest as the Healer paused before continuing. Severus knew that the man was not enjoying having to relay this information. He didn't think anyone would. He was now thankful that Dumbledore had insisted on him teaching at Hogwarts instead of pursuing the healing career path.

"It appears to myself and my colleagues as though the typical spell damage from the Cruciatus curse, in addition to the trauma of the events of that night, have compounded into what we would call psychogenic amnesia." Ginny's head tilted to the side in confusion. "Your brother suffers from retrograde amnesia for the time frame between he Cruciatus curse and waking up in hospital. Coupled with this he seems to have slight anterograde symptoms which prohibit him from retaining any new memories that lead him to have a skewed temporal perception of the time and events that have happened since the trigger." Ginny sat back in her chair and covered her eyes. She shook her head and the doctor looked at her sadly.

"I don't understand." She muttered quietly and Severus glared at the doctor. Severus had been able to follow what the man had been saying thanks to his experience with healing potions and wide reading. Ginny, however, had probably never looked at a muggle or wizard healing text in her life and therefore had no idea what the man was regurgitating.

"Miss Weasley has never studied healing, nor has she any detailed knowledge of psychological injuries." Severus drawled, glaring at the younger man "As such she has no way to comprehend the utter gibberish you just fed her." He glared at the wizard who cowered visibly under his gaze. It reminded him of the way students reacted to his admonishments. "Can you please tell us, in simple English, exactly what is wrong with Ronald."

Ginny peered out at Severus from behind her hands gratefully. The healer cleared his throat hurriedly.

"Right. Well. Sorry about that Miss Weasley. As your friend here so clearly pointed out I sometimes have trouble remembering that not everyone is privy to the ins and outs of healing." He nodded apologetically in her direction. Severus had to contain a smile as one of Ginny's hands reached across and clasped his own where it was resting on the arm of his chair. He brought his other hand over to cover hers reassuringly. The healer, who had seen this, looked away hastily.

"What I should have said," He begun, his previously calm tone returning. "Is that your brother doesn't remember anything that has happened since he was under the effects of the Cruciatus." The doctor met Ginny's eyes and watched her carefully to make sure she was understanding him. "He has no idea what happened between the curse and waking up in the hospital."

"He still thinks Harry and Hermione are-" she stopped and took a breath "he expects them to come and pick him up." Ginny whispered. Cassius frowned.

"Yes, he does." He confirmed "He truly has no knowledge of their passing. He does know about the fate of the rest of your family, and he genuinely mourns the loss, but as far as his friends go he is psychologically incapable of processing the information. He knows that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been defeated at the handy of Harry, with the help of the others but he cannot process that Harry, or Hermione, are gone."

Severus closed his eyes as this information sunk in. He had heard of similar things before happening to victims of the Death Eaters. He had read numerous muggle and wizarding studies devoted to trying to find a cure for these sorts of conditions. All of them wildly ineffective. This knowledge made his heart ache for Ginny.

"How can he not understand it?" She said, voice teetering the fine line between confusion and rage "Why has no one told him?"

"As I have said, Miss Weasley, he cannot process it."

"What does that MEAN? Why has no one told him. You can't just let him live from day to day thinking they are still alive and coming to get him! That is wrong! It's cruel" She yelled jumping out of her chair and pulling her hand from Severus' grasp. Her face was red with anger and she was breathing heavily. Severus had to admit that Cassius was taking it quiet well in comparison with his reaction to Severus' earlier comments. Severus thought that this was probably because he was used to confused and angry family members, but not critical treatment from someone other than a colleague.

"We have tried." The doctor said softly in a soothing tone "Every time we have tried to tell him he has become intensely angry and withdrawn from reality." Ginny's breathing became even more rapid, her chest rising and falling quicker than was healthy. Severus quickly rose from his seat and stood in front of her. Blocking the healer from her view.

"Ginny," he muttered, it took a moment for her to focus on him instead of trying to look through him to glare at the healer. "What Healer Boulstridge is saying is that Ron cannot accept that Harry and Hermione are dead. Instead of accepting it and mouring the loss, much like you did, Ron's is unable to process this. It is likely that, in addition to all of the pain he suffered from the cruciatus curse, his mind has been hurt very badly. The events of the final battle are too stressful for him to accept.

"He has blocked all of his memories of what happened to Hermione- right in front of his very own eyes- from his consciousness. He is unable to recall them because his mind is protecting itself- recalling these facts would destroy him because he is not yet ready to deal with them." As Severus explained the sympathetic pain in his heart turned into a genuine agony. He could see Ginny's taking all this information in. "It doesn't matter how many times the healers tell Ron what happened that night, because until he is psychologically ready to process it, it will only cause him more pain and maybe even make him worse."

There were a few moments of silence where Ginny's mind processed all that had been said. Behind her eyes Severus could see her pain. There were no more tears there anymore, just raw agony and emotion. She closed her eyes, leant forward, and put her head on his chest. He brought his arms up around her and held her firmly. If it were any other situation Severus would have been enjoying the closeness between them. Her warm body was pressed against his firmly, he could feel her chest rising and falling against his own, her warm forehead against the bare skin that the collar of his shirt did not cover.

Severus did not know how long they stood like that, Ginny in his arms, the healer sitting silently and watching, before she pulled away and looked past him, meeting the healer's eyes.

"Will they recover?" She asked him. Her voice drained of all emotion. The doctor sighed.

"Fred and George are unlikely to recover." He said evenly "The damage to their brain was too extensive and we have already tried everything we possibly could have to help them. And Ron?" He said, he gave a small shrug "I am not sure. According to all of the studies done on patients with similar problems, if he does recover, it will be in his own time. Physically, Ron has recovered from his injuries and medically there is nothing further we can do for him. As I said, the damage from the Cruciatus curse was not that extensive. What is holding Ron back now - is himself."

Ginny buried her head back into Severus' chest and he lowered his lips and brushed a light kiss against her hair.

"Let's go." She whispered into his chest. She stepped back and took his hand leading him towards the door. Just after crossing the threshold he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see the healer right behind him.

"Can I have a minute of your time, please?" He asked, Severus turned to Ginny who gave a slight nod.

"Will you be alright?" He asked.

"Yes." She replied before walking over to a portait on the other side of the waiting room.

"Thankyou." Cassius said before motioning to the chairs they had just vacated. "I didn't catch your name before."

"Snape, Severus Snape." Cassius smiled his thanks.

"Mr Snape. As far as the care of Fred, George and Ron go, we do not have any relation as next of kin or emergency contact." the Healer begun in an all-business tone. "I am under the impression that Miss Weasley is the only close family member they have left. For the sake of policy the hospital would prefer if she, and not Remus Lupin, were made into the emergency contact for her brothers. In light of their condition it may also be prudent to consider assigning a clinically sane family member to act as their deputy for property and affairs as well as welfare in lieu of the State." Severus nodded.

"Understandably so," he replied "How do we go addressing these issues?" He asked, the healer looked over Severus' shoulder at Ginny who was inspecting the portrait on the wall, eyes filled with pity.

"Well, Miss Weasley will need to visit a lawyer in order to discuss the deputyship in more detail." Severus nodded, but on the inside he felt despair for Ginny- it went against the natural order of the world to have to accept that sort of responsibility for your older siblings. He had no doubt that she would be willing to do it, once she had come to terms with their conditions. He knew she would move heaven and earth for her family. "For Fred and George, unfortunately, it will need to be a permanent arrangement. For Ron, however, her power of attorney will be contingent on his recovery. I will send her an owl with the necessary supporting psychiatric evaluations the lawyer will need to take this issue to court. Then she will need to bring these documents back to the hospital and someone in admin will change our records." The doctor said.

"Is that all?" Severus asked getting to his feet, Cassius nodded and Severus turned to leave but before he reached the door the sound of the healer's voice stopped him.

"And Mr Snape?" He asked, Severus turned "If you could please remind Miss Weasley that, as the responsibility of their care has been automatically granted to the state, she has no obligation to do any of this? Given the situation, I am sure people would understand if she didn't." Severus glared at the man and his assumption that Ginny may not want to be involved with her brothers any more.

"I assure you, Healer Boulstridge, that Ginny will be back here to change the details before the month is out." He snapped before turning on his heels and striding from the room.

* * *

A/N: Wow, this was a difficult one to write. Please forgive me for any errors in my psych-talk as my text books are all packed up and between baby and full-time study I don't have the energy to dig them out and do proper research.

On another note- I saw Deathly Hallows part 2 this week and bloody hell- Alan Rickman is unbelievable! I won't say more incase some of you have not yet seen it, but the film was amazing.

Anyway- with any luck the next chapter should be along in 1-2 weeks. Sorry to keep you waiting.

In the mean time please feel free to **READ and REVIEW** and let me know how I am doing- I thrive on feedback.

Jael73- Don't worry, there is still at least another four chapters after this one to go :)

Xoxo

Sinister Spiders


	9. Told You So

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Nine: **Told You So

* * *

_"And Mr Snape?" He asked, Severus turned "If you could please remind Miss Weasley that, as the responsibility of their care has been automatically granted to the state, she has no obligation to do any of this? Given the situation, I am sure people would understand if she didn't." Severus glared at the man and his assumption that Ginny may not want to be involved with her brothers any more._

_"I assure you, Healer Boulstridge, that Ginny will be back here to change the details before the month is out." He snapped before turning on his heel and striding from the room._

* * *

After apparating back to Grimmauld Place Ginny went straight up to her room. Severus wanted to follow her and to see what was on her mind but he knew that she would need time and space to get her thoughts in order. He decided that he was in need of a drink and made his way into the kitchen. After making himself a strong coffee (and adding a touch of alcohol to it) he went into the lounge room intending to do some reading.

When he turned the corner to enter the room he stopped in his tracks. Remus and Nymphadora were sitting cross-legged on the rug in the centre of the room with Andromeda squalling on her tummy between them. Severus immediately went to back away but was stopped as Remus looked up and smiled at him.

"Where did you and Ginny get off to, then?" He asked, he quickly peered back around to watch his daughter on the carpet struggling to raise her tiny check mere millimeters off the floor before flopping her head back down again. If Severus' usually excellent judgement of emotions was correct he would say that Andromeda was, quiet rightfully, annoyed that she was stuck on the ground and her parents were doing nothing to stop it.

"Tummy time." Tonks said, seeming to notice his interest in the practice "A little bit every day apparently helps strengthen their necks." She smiled at him before looking at her child again.

"So, where did you go?" Remus asked again.

"Saint Mungo's" Severus responded dispassionately. Both of their faces snapped around to face him.

"Oh Severus- why in the name of Merlin would you take here there so soon?" Tonks asked sadly. Severus bristled at the comment.

"It was not my decision Nymphadora." He growled making colour rise in her cheeks. "Ginevra mentioned to me this morning that she would be going there and I went along with her." He finished. Tonks had the decency to look away.

"How are they doing?" Remus asked softly. Andromeda's grunts and growls got more frequent and Tonks turned the baby so she was laying on her back, immediately she seemed much more content.

"From what I can tell they are still the same." Severus responded coolly.

"How did Ginny take it?" Remus continued. Severus frowned which earned him a shocked look from Remus.

"Very well for the first couple of minutes. Until Ronald asked why Harry and Hermione did not accompany her to collect him." Severus drawled, Tonks sniffed and Severus could tell she was holding back tears. She was such an empathetic person Severus sometimes wondered how she made it through the day without imploding from emotion. "Fred and George didn't acknowledge her."

Remus sighed and picked his daughter up, holding her close to his chest. He kissed her fine brown hair and looked over at his wife, giving her a reassuring smile. Severus suddenly felt awkward witnessing such private tenderness.

"Where is she now?" Remus looked over to him.

"She is in her room. She needs some time to think about everything she has seen today." Remus and Tonks nodded in agreement. Severus wanted to tell them about the deputyship discussion he had with the healer. While he had no doubt that she would eventually take it he was interested to see what Tonks and Remus had to say.

"What else, Severus?" Tonks asked him with a kind smile, noticing his hesitation to leave . That was the deciding factor for him. He had a feeling that the argument he had with Remus the previous morning was not only in reference to his treatment of Ginny, perhaps Remus was starting to tire of Severus' attitude towards him. Severus had to admit that making a tiny bit of effort to involve Tonks and Remus a little more in his thought processes would probably go a long way towards making living in this house more comfortable.

"The Healer also raised the issue of deputyship for the boys." Severus said taking a step into the room. Tonks patted the lounge that she was leaning against and shuffled closer towards the centre of the rug to provide some leg room for him. He went over and sat down on lounge.

"Did she want to take it?" Remus asked him, his brown eyes filled with sympathy for Ginny.

"She was out of the room when he mentioned it. He seemed to doubt her willingness to take responsibility for her brothers." Severus spat, Remus and Tonks looked surprised at his sudden vehemence.

"You think she would do it?" Tonks ask seeming very interested in his response. Severus nodded.

"I have no doubt about it. Nor do I have any doubt about her commitment and loyalty to her brothers, despite their infirmities." He responded. "Nevertheless, I believe that she has the right to know that it is an option." Both Tonks and Remus nodded in agreement.

"Well, I am sure you will be the best judge of when to tell her." Tonks said evenly "She seems to confide in you the most anyway." Severus got to his feet. The fact that Tonks was aware of Ginny's growing trust in him made him feel slightly awkward- a feeling that he did not enjoy. He gave them a parting nod and left the room.

* * *

That night Ginny hadn't come down to dinner. Tonks had suggested that Severus should be the one to take Ginny something to eat in her room, but she had refused the food he had brought her. Severus had retreated to his own room as soon as it was politely possible to do so and sat on his bed reading one of his potions journals. It wasn't until he had finished an entire issue that he noticed how much time had passed. He snatched up his clothes and decided to shower in the bathroom that would mean he had to walk past Ginny's room. On the way there and back there were no lights or noises coming from her room, so he had hoped she had fallen into a calm sleep and left the cares of her day behind.

He slipped under the covers of his bed and blew out the flame in the lamp on his bedside table and sunk under the welcoming covers. He had to admit that Ron's condition had shocked him. In truth he had expected all of the brothers to be in the same condition, that of Fred and George. He had seen Cruciated people like that before, including the Longbottoms. What he wasn't used to was the clearly dysfunctional condition that Ronald was in.

Severus knew that if Ronald was a surprise to him then he was even more so to Ginny. When she had first run in the room to embrace her seemingly normal brother he had dared to hope that Ronald was on the road to recovery. As soon as Ron had mentioned Harry he knew he had mere seconds to make his way to Ginny. He was incredibly relieved that he had made it their before she hit the ground. His arms supporting her limp body and helping her into a chair. He closed his eyes at the memory. When Ron continued he knew that his initial interpretation of the situation was wrong. Even he, incredibly resistant to empathy and emotional outbursts, had to admit that he found Ron's words excruciatingly sad and haunting. He had wanted to scoop Ginny into his arms and take her away from that place.

He wished, for Ginny's sake, that he could use a time-turner to take her back to a time where she was happy. Before the battle at Godric's Hollow. But that would mean that she would still belong to Harry. Severus clenched his fists, his short nails biting into his palms. He cursed his selfishness. But as he did he could not help but remember their kiss, and the conversation from the night before. He couldn't deny that he cared for her, and that he lusted for her.

Severus let out an audible growl and flipped over onto his stomach as the memory of kissing Ginevra's sweet lips triggered the unavoidable hardening of him. He took long, deep breath in and out and hoped that the concentration on breathing would be sufficient to reverse his arousal.

Between breaths Severus heard a soft rapping on his door and he quickly sat up in bed.

"Who is it?" He called out.

"It's me." Came Ginny's soft voice through the door. In his current state the fact that she was knocking at his door did his imagination no favours. He pulled the blankets up higher and rested his hands on his lap, concealing any visual evidence of what he couldn't think away.

"Come in." He called out. The door open and shut quickly and he heard soft footfalls as Ginny made her way across the room. She was halfway to his bed before he could see the outline of her properly. "What's wrong?" He asked, wondering what warranted this late-night visit to his room.

"I heard you go and take a shower." She said. "I couldn't sleep." They both knew that was all the explanation he needed. He knew just as well as she did that darkness made a poor companion in the middle of the night. There were many times over the past twenty years that he longed to be in the presence of another that cared. Not to talk, or touch, but just to be there.

"If you like we can go down to the lounge room for a while." He offered, not completely comfortable with her being alone with him in his room in his current state.

"Okay." She replied and stood on the spot. He silently cursed and fervently willed the blood in his groin to resume its normal course around the rest of his body. For the moment he could count on the darkness of his room to hide his arousal so he slipped out from under his covers and snatched his wand off his bedside table and walked towards the door, careful not to bump in to her on the way.

"Are you going to cast Lumos?" She asked him he nearly laughed at the prospect, knowing full well that at the moment he would not be able to hide himself in the magical light of a Lumos spell.

"Yes, but I am waiting until we get to the stairs- I would hate for the light to disrupt the Lupins." He lied. She seemed satisfied with this response and followed him from the room.

The walk between his room, while familiar, required enough concentration in the darkness to calm his arousal. When he got too the stairs his lit his wand as promised and they made their way to the lounge room in silence. The enchanted fire in there was burning low and soon would be only embers, but it would not go out. Its limited warmth was not enough to completely fend off the chill of the darkness but if they needed to be warmer, Severus could make the fire burn hotter. He settled down on the far right seat of the lounge and Ginny took her place on the left side. She turned side on so that she was facing him and brought her feet onto the lounge, tucking her knees up under her chin.

"How are you?" Severus asked, knowing that the normally mundane question held much more depth in Ginevra's situation. Ginny nodded and he could see the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes. The dying fire hissed and spat in the fireplace providing a reprieve from what would be a heavy silence.

Ginny watched the entrancing fluctuations of light caused by the glowing embers in the fireplace. Since going to Saint Mungo's she had not been able to stop numerous thoughts from racing through her head. That tiny spark of hope she had felt when Ron had greeted her was now buried under a mountain of dread.

Severus was right. It was one thing to know that someone was unhinged but it was another matter entirely to accept their new state. She was having a great deal of trouble comprehending how Ron could not acknowledge the death of his girlfriend and best friend. Even in her darkest time of mourning, when she wished with all her being that her loved ones were alive and well, she had the underlying knowledge that they were dead. Gone. They were not coming back.

"It's cruel." Ginny said, her voice trembling. She turned her gaze to her ex-professor and saw him watching her. "To give him continuous hope that Harry and Hermione will come to get him. They are dead." Severus frowned.

"I must disagree," he drawled and Ginny glared at him "While lying to him does seem quiet unconscionable... Ginny, what are the other options?" He asked, "Should we tell him the truth and have him despair for a while, only to have him return to his former belief anyway and do it all over again?" His voice softened and Ginny could no longer meet his gaze. She shook her head, knowing that this would be painful for her brother.

"Can you imagine that?" Severus asked her "Can you imagine being told every day that your best friend and lover have died? Can you imagine the pain that would put him through?" As it was, Ginny had only had to have been told once to know the truth. But if what the healer said was right, and Ron refused to process it, then it was possible that each time they tried to tell him tore open old wounds that he was not yet ready to face.

"But..." Ginny begun, having to take a break to calm herself "How will he ever get better if people keep pandering to his delusion?" She asked "How will he know the truth about Harry and Hermione when he is ready to accept it?" This was one of Ginny's main fears; feeding Ron's fantasy might strengthen it and completely ruin any chance of recovery.

"The fact that the healers know his response when they tell him indicates that they have tried it before. But I think that, when the time is right and Ron is capable of accepting it, he won't need to hear it. He will know. After all, he would have already been told many times." She sighed and leant back against the arm of the lounge. She needed to know more about Ron's condition because she just could not understand it. She knew that she had to go back to the hospital.

"I need to know more." Ginny told him and he nodded in agreement. She thought of her brothers sitting in Saint Mungo's and a sense of sadness overwhelmed her. It was quiet possible that Fred and George would never leave that place. A sickly feeling of guilt settled on her as she compared her life outside of the hospital to what her brothers would have.

"We can go back again, when you are ready." Severus told her.

"I think we will." She said resolutely, feeling somewhat relieved that she had made a decision. She would go to the hospital and talk to the healer again to learn more about her brothers. Depending on the information she would try hard to make their lives better for them, see if there was any way she could help them. She sighed and closed her eyes she tried to silence her racing mind but had no luck. Despite finally having a path to cling to there was still too much to think about. When she opened her eyes she saw Severus watching her intently and she gave him a small sad smile. She knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep but there was nothing more she felt she had to say. Selfishly though, she was not ready to let Severus return to bed- she still needed the human contact. She still wanted to know that there was another living, breathing human being – who cared about her- close to her.

Her attention was diverted by feeling Severus shift on the other side of the couch. He was watching her and looking as though he was weighing something up in his mind. Ginny found it odd that she could tell this, it was a very rare occasion when Severus Snape allowed his feelings to show. But there was clearly some sort of conflict in his eyes. She gave him a small encouraging smile and his normal indifferent expression returned.

"Ginevra," He begun evenly "The healer brought up an important issue with me when he held me back." Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What important issue would the healer possibly feel he couldn't tell her that he couldn't tell Severus? "I know that it is probably too soon to be bringing this up with you, but I know that you would not appreciate me keeping it from you, so please forgive me if it is bad timing but I believe you have a right to hear it and then make of it what you will." Ginny sat up straighter and her eyes hardened. In her despair she hadn't even given any thought to what the healer had said to him.

"Cassius raised the issue of deputyship for your brothers." Severus stated plainly, Ginny blinked.

"Deputyship?" She repeated, dazed.

"Yes." He said softly "In light of recent events and your current circumstances, responsibility for making decisions about your brother's affairs and welfare was automatically granted to the Ministry. However, Cassius mentioned that it would be possible for you, if you were willing, to be granted deputyship over Fred and George, and for Ron so long as he is deemed unfit to represent himself. This would involve taking the responsibility for making decisions for them in terms of their finances, health, welfare, property and other issues that may arise."

For a brief moment Ginny's mind went blank of everything other than what Severus had told her. Then her brain whirled into action and a myriad of thoughts all clamoured for her attention. She didn't even know where to start. In her previous life it had never once crossed her mind that she would ever be the person who would have to pick up the pieces of her family in the case of war. She was the youngest of six children. That was six older siblings that would be there to make ends meet if the worst were to happen to her parents. This, in addition to her current predicament, were beyond anything that she had ever seen in her strangest nightmares.

"You don't need to decide yet." Severus added sensing her inner turmoil "You have plenty of time to think about this and consider your options." He watched as the shadows of thoughts flashed behind her eyes. They sat in silence for five minutes and Severus could feel the events of the day and his sleepless night catching up to him. His eyelids were growing heavy, aided by the soothing sound of the fire crackling and the faint scent of Ginny.

Ginny slowly let her legs slide down so her feet touched the floor. She shuffled over the middle cushion of the lounge and then laid down, placing her head in his lap. She curled into a foetal position and turned her head so she could look up at him. His breath caught in his throat at the suddenness of her affection.

"Please stay with me." She whispered, brown eyes twinkling in the dying light.

Unsure of himself, Severus brought his hand down from the arm rest to stroke her flaming red hair. Her head was a real and heavy warmth in his lap, her scent now stronger than before. Her hair was soft and smooth, just as he remembered. He smiled to himself, in awe of the beautiful witch resting against him.

* * *

The eager light of morning shone through the open curtains of the lounge room rousing Severus from his slumber. He felt confusion wash over him at his unusual surroundings. As his mind slowly woke the reason for him being in the lounge room came back to him, he peered down to see Ginny still asleep, head still in his lap.

He couldn't pinpoint when he had fallen asleep. He hadn't intended too. Much to his surprise Ginny had slipped off to sleep less than five minutes after resting on him. Once he was sure she was in a deep enough slumber he had resolved to carry her to bed and then retreat to the comfort of his own. He had continued stroking her hair for much longer than he probably should have. Not willing to give up that point of contact too soon. Watching her stirred all kinds of long-forgotten emotions in him, reminding him of his time spent with Lily Evans. He watched as a small frown formed on her sleeping face and he knew in that moment that he could possibly be falling in love with her. He had known without a doubt that he had grown to care for her. His rusty sense of empathy had been awakened as he watched her mourn her losses. Much to his confusion, and beyond all sense of reason, he found himself becoming increasingly drawn to her. His new attraction tearing down years of built up defences.

After his unconscionable actions that led to the death of Lily and James Potter he had sworn off love and intimacy. Opening oneself up so intimately to another person was a recipe for disaster. It felt like, for a time, his love for Lily had relieved him of all sense of control. He certainly wasn't thinking rationally when he had relayed the prophecy to Voldemort. Perhaps the benefit of hindsight allowed him to conclude that, if he had been thinking rationally, he would have known better than to run to Voldemort for aid. After all- Lily was merely a muggle-born- unworthy of the Dark Lord's mercy.

Gently he stroked Ginny's hair and allowed a confused frown to come across his face. He had opened up to her. Apart from Lily and Albus, he had never opened up so freely to anyone before in his life. Much to his surprise and relief she had not rejected him. Granted she had not said anything to him about her reaction to what he told her, but the fact that she had chosen to continue to talk to him, and even came to him for comfort, showed that she was at least willing to accept him despite his many flaws.

"In the lounge, I think, Remus. That way we can put Andy on the floor!" He heard Tonk's voice a moment before she turned the corner. She stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes took in the scene before her. Severus was sure it was early in the morning, but the reason for her being awake was in her eyes, staring up at her intently. With a coffee in one hand and her daughter in the crook of her other arm Tonks stood in the doorway with mouth agape. Severus felt his body freeze and suddenly felt like a dear in the headlights.

There was a pounding of footsteps and Remus' head peered around the doorway, clearly willing to see what his wife was so shocked by. A smug smile crossed Remus' face.

"Told you so." He said tartly to his wife before placing a hand gently on her shoulders. Severus glared at him. "I think, perhaps, it would be better if we had our coffee in the kitchen." Nymphadora nodded mutely. "I am sure Severus wouldn't mind if we let manners go and allowed Andromeda to have her tummy-time on the table, would you Severus?" He grinned at Severus, tactfully not looking down at Ginny.

"I don't see why not." Severus said. Still thoroughly aware of his fingers laced through Ginny's hair. He could only imagine what this looked like to Tonks and Remus. And then there was Remus' smug '_told you so'_ remark that made him wonder just what the lycanthrope had told his wife. Before he could ask the couple had retreated from the threshold and the moment was lost.

Ginny's mind slowly released her from her dreamless sleep and her eyes fluttered open in the morning light. She was shocked when her eyes met a pair of dark ones staring back at her. In a cascade of memories the events of yesterday and last night flooded back and she was suddenly very aware of her surroundings. She could feel the heat of Severus' thighs against the back of her neck and she shifted slightly to relieve the crick in her neck that resulted in sleeping in such an awkward position. His long fingers that had previously been stroking her hair ever so softly froze.

In the clear and exposing morning light Ginny suddenly felt very self-conscious. What had she been thinking when she had rested her head in his lap? Had she taken it too far? His eyes still bore into hers and she looked away., cheeks flushing. She sat up quickly, careful not to head butt him on the way up.

"I am so sorry-" she gushed "I-" she didn't know how to finish that sentence. _I didn't mean to keep you here?_ That was a lie, she needed him to be there with her, needed the contact. She shook her head and rubbed her gritty eyes. He was watching her intently as she self-consciously smoothed her hair, knowing how unruly it could get when she slept.

"Yes?" He asked, urging her to continue. She shrugged.

"I- I hope you weren't uncomfortable." She said casting her eyes demurely aside. He involuntarily flexed his shoulder and his thumbs rubbed his finger tips as if he was trying to remember the feel of something.

"Not at all." Came his cool response. She sat there for a moment not knowing what else to say. The room was becoming thick with the awkward tension between them. Her heartfelt gratitude for his kindness overwhelmed her causing her to blush further and he seemed to be lost in some sort of reminiscence.

"Well- I have to..." She started, he snapped out of his reverie and nodded.

"Yes- me too." Severus said. They both stood up quickly at the same time. Their bodies a hairsbreadth apart. Ginny could feel the post-sleep warmth radiating from him. His pyjamas were wrinkled and creased from the position they had been in and his hair was slightly tousled. She was not used to seeing Severus so unfinished. Usually he was the complete image of semblance; every hair severely in its place and clothes immaculate. A small smile tugged at her lips as she relished the unexpected closeness of it all. She looked up and their eyes locked.

She was transfixed in place as he, deliberately, inched his face closer to hers. She could sense his lips close to hers for several tense moments before he made contact, the slowness of his approach an unspoken question. Begging for permission. As soon as skin touched skin Ginny's body erupted to life- every nerve ending on fire, desperate to feel more of him. She closed her eyes and focused all of her attention on the feeling of his lips on hers.

His kiss was excruciatingly slow and gentle. His lips questioningly parting her own as he waited for her to stop the contact. He slid his tongue into her mouth and she responded with the same shy uncertainty he displayed. Her lack of resistance seemed to bolster his confidence and he brought his right hand up to caress her cheek tenderly. She responded by running her fingers through his already dishevelled hair, their lips and tongues working at a cautious pace, neither one wanting to frighten the other.

Just as slowly as it had begun Severus withdrew from her. His hand gently falling to his side. He watched her as he would a startled unicorn; likely to bolt at the slightest movement. Ginny brought her hand up and placed it against his chest, feeling his heart thundering under her touch.

"Good morning, Severus." She whispered with a sweet smile. She turned slowly walked out of the room leaving Severus reeling in her wake.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Another chapter down! I have so far written up to Chapter Eleven and there is still two more to write. So not long to go now. I will be releasing chapters 10 and 11 over the next week or so and hopefully then I will be done with 12 and 13 and ready to finish this fic.

After this story is complete I will write a one-shot that had been floating about in my mind for a while and then get stuck into A Trust Beyond Reason.

A special thanks to nagandsev for the detailed reviews- they are very much appreciated. Thanks also to those people who have added me to favourites or alerts- again, it is nice to know that people are enjoying this!

Until next chapter...


	10. Forget the World

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Ten: **Forget the World

* * *

_She was transfixed in place as he, deliberately, inched his face closer to hers. She could sense his lips close to hers for several tense moments before he made contact, the slowness of his approach an unspoken question. Begging for permission. As soon as skin touched skin Ginny's body erupted to life- every nerve ending on fire, desperate to feel more of him. She closed her eyes and focused all of her attention on the feeling of his lips on hers._

_His kiss was excruciatingly slow and gentle. His lips questioningly parting her own as he waited for her to stop the contact. He slid his tongue into her mouth and she responded with the same shy uncertainty he displayed. Her lack of resistance seemed to bolster his confidence and he brought his right hand up to caress her cheek tenderly. She responded by running her fingers through his already dishevelled hair, their lips and tongues working at a cautious pace, neither one wanting to frighten the other._

_Just as slowly as it had begun Severus withdrew from her. His hand gently falling to his side. He watched her as he would a startled unicorn; likely to bolt at the slightest movement. Ginny brought her hand up and placed it against his chest, feeling his heart thundering under her touch._

"_Good morning, Severus." She whispered with a sweet smile. She turned slowly walked out of the room leaving Severus reeling in her wake._

* * *

After getting changed and brushing her hair Ginny made her way down to the kitchen. Her lips were still burning from Severus' kiss and she had to concentrate incredibly hard not to let her mind drift back to the amazing feeling of his lips on hers. Her body had been set on fire, more so than when she kissed him. That first kiss- despite being wonderful- was initiated by irrational emotions and, dare she admit, possible attraction. She had spent a great deal of time berating herself for kissing Severus when Harry had not long passed. Surely propriety dictated that she had to wait much longer before even considering someone else in that manner.

That night where she ported the bodies of her friends and family seemed like another life time. The disparity between the actual amount of time that had passed and her perception of the eons slowly creeping by confused her. There was one thing she knew for sure though; Severus Snape cared for her. In the early days of her mourning, when all felt lost, she had given up hope of being able to fall in love with someone ever again. Surely no one could ever fill the hole that Harry had left in her heart? But Severus- he was different. He was different to Harry in almost every way imaginable, but the fact that he cared, even though he had no cause to, was what had made Ginny think that all might not be lost.

Tonks was sitting in the kitchen sipping on a steaming cup of coffee when Ginny entered the room. Andromeda must have been with Remus somewhere.

"Good morning Tonks." Ginny said with a genuine smile, Tonks looked up at her with eyebrows raised.

"Yes- I bet it was." She replied under her breath. Ginny frowned but before she could ask Tonks what she meant the pink-haired woman held out a folded piece of parchment for her. "This arrived for you this morning, while you were still... asleep." Tonks said. Ginny crossed the room in a few steps and took the letter, wondering who on earth would be interested in contacting her.

The parchment was heavy and when she opened it the first thing she noticed was the ministry logo stamped on the top of the paper.

_Dear Miss Weasley,_

_It is with my most heartfelt sympathies that I write this letter to you today. We here at the Ministry of Magic wish to convey to you that if you need any assistance, you need only ask. We cannot begin to comprehend the magnitude of personal loss you have suffered and you have our deepest condolences._

_I am writing to you to issue you an early invitation to the Memorial Service that the Ministry of Magic will be holding for the victims and heroes of the Final Battle two weeks from today. We at the Ministry are thoroughly aware that you, personally, have suffered extreme losses from the recent war. We wished to issue this exclusive early invitation in order to recognise this, and also to let you know that if you have anything you wished to contribute the service then we would be more than happy to accommodate you. _

_The Memorial Service will be held in the Godric's Hollow Town Square at mid day and will last for two hours. We hope to see you there. _

_Sincerely,_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt_

_Minister of Magic_

Ginny's hands automatically felt for the nearest chair and within a second of locating it she fell onto it with a thump. She put the parchment down onto the table in front of her and brought her hands up to rub her eyes. Suddenly she felt extremely tired. When her hands fell from her face she noticed that Tonks previously strange expression had been replaced by one of complete concern.

"What is it?" Tonks asked in a kind voice, her hand coming down to clasp Ginny's. Ginny used her free hand to push the parchment towards the metamorphmagus.

When Ginny had ported the bodies of her loved ones she had said her goodbyes. She knew that, for the most part, none of the people she had farewelled would have truly wanted a public service. Their lives had been nothing short of radically unsettled and she believed that they would wish no more than to rest in peace. The idea of a mass public memorial set her nerves on edge. Hadn't these people been through enough? Didn't they deserve to be left alone? Her fists balled up tightly and her nails dug into her skin painfully.

Tonks sighed loudly and pushed the letter back towards Ginny.

"I know what you are thinking." Tonks said softly. "I wish that this wasn't necessary. Your family and our friends deserve peace." Ginny nodded her agreement angrily. "But Ginny, I don't think this is about them." Ginny looked at the older woman with her eyebrows raised.

"Of course it is!" She said incredulously, "It is a memorial service for them!"

"No, that isn't what I meant." Tonks said with a firm shake of her head. "This service is a way for everyone, not just us, to put the past behind them. I highly doubt that there is any witch or wizard in the United Kingdom who has not been personally touched by the war in some way." Ginny bit her tongue, not wanting to interrupt Tonks, but a feeling of anger swelled inside her.

"The memorial service will be more about saying goodbye to past pains than to Harry, or your Mum." Tonks said softly. "I also think that the public want a chance to reflect on and pay respects to the strangers that sacrificed so much for them. These people didn't know your family, or Harry or Hermione. All they really know is that they gave their lives to make our world a better place to live in. Don't they deserve a chance to say thank you?" Tonks whispered the last question and the soft words broke Ginny's resolve. Her anger came crashing down and she hugged Tonks, clinging to her for support. After the trauma of yesterday Ginny's eyes had no tears left to cry but she wished that she did. Tonks pulled away from her slowly and gave her a sweet smile, her hot pink hair glittering with a deeper magenta highlight that was only there when Tonks was sad.

Tonks patted her hand gently and stood, Ginny looked up at her. "I'll make you a coffee, hun." She said and busied herself getting Ginny a drink.

The thought of a public ceremony terrified Ginny. Thus far she had been allowed to mourn in private. But she knew, that at a public service, there would be hundreds- maybe thousands- of people looking at her- the one that was left behind. She had no desire to feel the sorrow of thousands of other people. She had already drowned in enough sadness to last her a thousand lifetimes. But she couldn't deny that Tonks had a point. Did Ginny really have to go to this service?

It was all too much to take in. The last month had been too full, it was impossible that so much strain and emotion could have fitted so neatly into the last four weeks. Ginny's mind floated back to the kiss that she had shared with Severus that morning and she felt her cheeks redden.

With a start, she realised what the most amazing part of that kiss had been. Not the warmth of her lips on his, nor the way his hand lovingly caressed her cheek, it was the way that the world fell away from around them. The absolute exclusion from her mind of all other thoughts but how wonderful that moment was. Ginny involuntarily brought her fingertips to her lips, desperate to recapture that blissful, single-minded state of being.

A steaming hot cup of coffee was set on the table in front of her and Ginny took it gratefully. Tonks resumed her place in the seat beside her and cleared her throat loudly. Ginny looked over at her questioningly.

"So..." Tonks said, trying to avoid eye contact with Ginny "Severus, hey?"

Ginny's coffee shot out of her mouth in a most undignified manner and her eyes bulged in shock. She coughed a few times at the sudden exhalation and then wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. She turned in her seat and stared, open-mouthed at Tonks.

"H-how did you... I mean; what- ... Oh blast!" Ginny cursed, unable to pluck a single coherent thought out of her racing mind. Tonks laughed and patted Ginny's shoulder companionably.

"Well- despite the fact that your reaction just confirmed it once more, there have been a few hints." Tonks said with a shrug.

"L-like what?" Ginny asked dubiously. Tonks shrugged and she had a familiar cheeky twinkle in her eyes.

"Well, we first got suspicious when you and Severus came in to the hospital room- holding hands." Tonks begun.

"You saw that?" Ginny was astounded, she had thought that they had broken contact before Tonks and Remus had noticed. "Wait! What do you mean; we?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well, it was Remus' theory, not mine. I didn't believe it, I didn't think..." Tonks trailed off, clearly not wanting to elaborate on what she had thought. "And then," She added "when we brought Andromeda home from the hospital it was as though we had walked into a cease fire. You could almost bottle the tension between you two... Then the morning before last Remus and Severus had a- well, let's just call it a discussion, eh?" Tonks smiled at her and Ginny's curiosity peaked, she had wondered what that argument was about.

"Then what?" Ginny questioned.

"Well, miraculously, yesterday morning you could tolerate each other's presence and then you went to Saint Mungo's together." Ginny bit her lip. Following Tonk's catalogue of events, it did make sense that they had suspected the possibility of her interest in Severus. "Then," Tonks said with a tone of finality that Ginny would have associated with a detective "well, there was this morning."

"This morning?" Ginny could feel her cheeks redden "But, I just got to the kitchen not long ago." She said, she hadn't seen nor heard of either of the Lupins on her way back to her room this morning so she highly doubted they had reason to be suspicious.

"Yeah, we- uh... We wanted to give Andromeda some tummy time on the rug in the lounge and then we saw you and Severus..." Ginny's mouth opened in horror. "You were still asleep." Tonks added softly.

There was a tense silence in the kitchen. Her feelings for Severus had, up until a moment ago, been her private knowledge. She was secure in the fact that she was her only critic as far as her ex-potions master went. But now Remus and Tonks knew? The idea made her blush. She still was not entirely sure of what her feelings towards Severus were. She knew, for a fact, that she was drawn to him, but beyond that? Well, she was counting on having time and privacy to explore that.

"Please don't think we are judging you." Tonks said, her voice breaking both the silence and Ginny's musings. "Hell, we are hardly the Golden Couple." Tonks laughed "We were just surprised is all." Ginny looked into the other woman's eyes and found nothing negative in them. She had expected, if by some chance Remus and Tonks had found out, that they would try and warn her off him. Or condemn her for thinking of someone other than Harry. It was clear to her now, however, that she would meet little or no resistance from Tonks. She remembered all too well the state that Tonks had been in when she was vying for Remus' attention. She recalled a candid discussion with her mother where she told her that Remus had misgiving about being with a younger woman, especially with his peculiarities.

"Sometimes," Tonks said with a dreamy smile on her face "you can't help who you fall in love with." Ginny smiled at her. "Besides," Tonks added "Good old Snapey boy isn't too hard on the eyes!"

It was at that opportune moment that Severus Snape decided to enter the kitchen to get some breakfast.

Severus stopped in his tracks when he entered the kitchen. He was unnerved by the matching startled looks in Tonks and Ginny's eyes. They looked as though they had been petrified. Severus had faced many dangerous situations in his life, he had looked Voldemort himself in the eyes and lied to him, but there was something about the looks he was getting from the women that unnerved him.

"Good morning ladies." Severus drawled with a slight nod before making his way over to the bench to put some bread in the toaster. He hoped they hadn't noticed his surprise as he had walked into the room. He knew that Tonks may have reason to be awkward in his presence, after the incident this morning he had wondered if she would still be comfortable around him. However, he had hoped, in the very least, for a cordial 'good morning' from Ginny.

Severus did not need eyes in the back of his head to know that Ginny and Nymphadora were still stiff and speechless. The sounds of his toast popping up was an instant relief and he busied himself buttering his toast. The sound of the knife scraping against the bread nearly echoed throughout the room. Once he had applied a coating of raspberry jam to the toast he turned and made his way to the table. As soon as his rear end touched the seat Tonks jumped out of her as if she had been electrocuted.

"I-... I'll just leave you two to it then, eh?" She said with an awkward cough before fleeing the room. As soon as she was gone Severus turned to Ginny with a questioning look, in response she shrugged casually and slid a piece of parchment over to him.

Severus read the letter twice. His logical and objective side told him that the letter made perfect sense. Of course the Ministry of Magic would want to hold a service to publicly recognise the War Heroes. That knowledge did not stop the part of him which had grown fond of Ginny from feeling a sense of anger towards the Ministry.

It was on Severus' discreet advice that Remus had suggested to Ginny that she should be the one to port the bodies of the fallen to their resting places. He had known that, if left up to Ginny, it would be a long and painful while before she had even thought of organising funerals for her friends on family. If you added to that the cost an emotional drain of such a ceremony both Severus and Remus had agreed that it would be kinder to allow Ginny to say her farewells in private and away from public scrutiny. It had also seemed right that those close to Ginny received this personal treatment from her.

Severus knew, for a fact, that the people that Ginny had ported back that were not Ginny's family or fiancé had been given a private funeral service by their family. The Granger's had sent a personally written invitation to Ginny to attend their daughter's funeral, but in her deep despair, Ginny had barely even looked at it. Neither Remus , Severus or Tonks had thought to push the matter further. As far as they, and clearly Ginny, were concerned- she had said her goodbyes.

Severus took a bite of his toast, the sweet jam paling in comparison to the memory of the taste of Ginny's sweet lips on his. He pushed the letter back towards her.

"So." He said "What are your thoughts about this?" Ginny shrugged.

"Oh- I don't know Severus! I just want them to be left alone! The last year of their lives was filled with the constant pressure of trying to fight Voldemort, surely they deserve to rest in peace. Besides- how many of them would actually welcome a public memorial like this with photographers and reporters and everything?" She said with a careless wave of her hand. "But Tonks said, and I guess she was right, that the public have a right to say thanks and put an end to that part of their lives."

Severus had to admit that he was constantly inspired by Ginny's strength. When the monument to Lily and James had been erected in Godric's Hollow he wanted to scream. He longed to curse every person that had attended the dedication ceremony. Who did they think they were to intrude on the private mourning of himself and the other people close to the Potters? In hindsight, his mind calmed by years of thinking time, he understood the sentiments behind the monument and ceremony. To this day he had not returned to Godric's Hollow. He had heard wonderful things about the beauty and accuracy of the statue, but he had no wish to visit it and open his wounds anew.

He looked across the table and into Ginny's brown eyes a rogue strand of fiery hair was the only thing marring his view of her gorgeous orbs. She met his gaze unflinchingly and affection for her surged inside him. She stood and made her way around the table, settling in the seat beside him. He repositioned so that his body was facing hers and he reached out and tucked the rogue strand of silky red hair behind her ear. She smiled dreamily leant into his hand.

"Before," She whispered "When we kissed... You made me forget the world." He listened to her slow confession, his heart thumping violently against his ribcage.

Ginny inched her face closer to his and rested her forehead against his own. Severus had to concentrate on her eyes to avoid the warmth and smell of her from driving him wild.

"Please Severus," he felt, rather than hear, her words. Her lips so close to his that he could feel their tantalizing warmth, "Please make me forget it all again."

Blood roared through his veins as he granted her request. His lips crushed against hers fiercely and he brought his hand up behind her head, tangled his fingers in her hair.

As their lips and tongues worked frantically he felt Ginny get off her seat and slide onto his lap. Her arms wrapped around him tightly, letting him know that she had not yet had enough of his attention. He, somewhat reluctantly, released her hair from his grip and brought his hands down over her shoulders as their mouths battled. Desire tore through his body, not leaving a single nerve free of its desperate longing, he groaned as his hands explored the gentle curves of her back and waist. He could feel the heat of her skin seeping through her clothes, calling to his own. Ginny's arms fell from around his shoulders so that she could hold his face, desperate to keep the kiss going.

Severus' mind was free of everything save the roar of blood through his veins, the sound of Ginny's laboured breathing and the delightful womanly scent of her. His erection strained painfully against the fabric of his pants and he had to force himself not to pull her body up more firmly against his.

He didn't know how much time had passed before she reluctantly pulled away from him, unable to stop herself from peppering his face with delicate kisses to convey how much she didn't want to stop. They were both breathing heavily, Severus' lips were aching with such a sweet pain, he would not be at all surprised if it took a while for the hard feeling of her lips pressed against his to fade. The sounds of the world came crashing back down around them and he reached out a hand to stroke her cheek.

It seemed that she could make him forget it all too.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to nagandsev and dracoginnylover for the wonderful reviews :)


	11. So Close, Yet So Far

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Eleven:** So Close, Yet So Far...

* * *

_Severus' mind was free of everything save the roar of blood through his veins, the sound of Ginny's laboured breathing and the delightful womanly scent of her. His erection strained painfully against the fabric of his pants and he had to force himself not to pull her body up more firmly against his. _

_He didn't know how much time had passed before she reluctantly pulled away from him, unable to stop herself from peppering his face with delicate kisses to convey how much she didn't want to stop. They were both breathing heavily, Severus' lips were aching with such a sweet pain, he would not be at all surprised if it took a while for the hard feeling of her lips pressed against his to fade. The sounds of the world came crashing back down around them and he reached out a hand to stroke her cheek. _

_It seemed that she could make him forget it all too._

* * *

The following evening Ginny and Severus offered to clean up after the delicious dinner that Tonks had cooked. When the kitchen was clean and everything was back in its place they retreated to the lounge room and settled onto the lounge, Ginny lying with her head in Severus' lap while he read a book.

"Severus, what do you know about this deputyship business?" Ginny asked. All of Ginny's mental resources were torn between two issues; the Memorial Service and Fred, Ron and George. There was still more than a week to go until the service so Ginny had decided to take some time to consider whether or not she was going to go. Even though her decision regarding her brothers was not on an official deadline she knew her conscience would not rest until she made a decision about it, and the welfare of her siblings was of much more importance to her than attending a Memorial Service.

"Not much," Severus admitted putting his book down on the arm of the chair. Ginny couldn't help but grin, relishing the fact that the man didn't actually have an answer for everything. "The basic idea is that you would need to make certain decisions for them. As far as their welfare goes, you would need to be the one to decide, and sign off on, their medical treatments. You would be granted control of their accounts and resources."

"So- you said the yesterday that the Ministry is already making these decisions for them?"

"Yes, the state would have automatically taken responsibility for your brothers, especially because your parents aren't there to. If you like we can find a lawyer and see how we can go about getting you appointed as their deputy." Ginny nodded vigorously in agreement. The idea of a complete stranger being consulted about her brothers' well-being instead of her made her quiet angry. How was a stranger meant to know what was best for them, or what they would have wanted, if they had never known her brothers?

A few moments passed, Severus' hand softly stroking Ginny's hair before she asked another question.

"What was it like going to Lily's funeral?" She whispered, Severus looked down at her, his eyes suddenly filled with a storm of emotion.

"I wouldn't know." He muttered, turning his face to look at the roaring fire. Ginny was shocked.

"You mean you weren't invited?" She asked, appalled

"No." He said quietly. He quickly grabbed the book that he had just put down and buried his nose in it.

"Severus!" Ginny said as she reached over and snatched the book from his grasp. He glared at her but didn't bother trying to get the book back, knowing that her years of playing quidditch meant that he had no hope. "Didn't you go to Lily's funeral?" He shook his head "You have never been to visit the grave or see the statue in the town square?" He shook his head a second time and she frowned.

"I saw the picture of the statue in the Daily Prophet," he spat "that was enough for me. Seeing Potter there with Lily, a happy smile plastered on his arrogant face? I had no wish to see it for myself. I have no intention of visiting Godric's Hollow." Ginny was taken aback by the spite in his voice. She sat up and reached out to grab his hands.

"Severus- I had no idea." She said, suddenly overcome with sympathy for him. He had never said goodbye to Lily. At least she had the chance to farewell her loved ones. "What about the Memorial service?" She asked softly, remained motionless for a few moments.

"I wasn't planning to go." He said and Ginny gasped. "Are you going?" He fired back at her.

"I am not sure yet," she admitted, somewhat subdued by his question. "But if I do I would like it if you would come with me."

"You will have Tonks and Remus, no doubt. I will not be going." He drawled.

"Why not?" She demanded, he pulled his hand away from her and shifted slightly away from her.

"Ginny- I was a Death Eater." He said as though he were explaining a complex potion to a first year student. "I highly doubt that anyone will want to see me there."

"You were acquitted Severus! Even the Daily Prophet had an article in it about how much you did for the Order in secret!" Ginny watched as the man smirked and shook his head slowly.

"Oh Ginevra, still so naive" He sighed, she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't '_Oh Ginevra'_ me!" She snapped, not even deigning to make a comment on his claim of her naivety. She knew that she was well past any reasonable expectations of appropriate maturity for her age. She had seen much in her life that had stolen away the innocence of childhood and the self-concern of adolescence. She could see him watching her for a reaction, and behind his eyes fluttered a momentary look of regret for his rash use of the word.

"Can I have my book back, please?" He drawled, Ginny stood as anger coursed through her veins. She threw the book forcefully onto his lap and purposefully strode from the room.

* * *

The next morning Severus hated to admit that their slight altercation the previous evening had kept him from a peaceful sleep. He had decided that he would help her in her recovery, but he did not have any desire to attend the blasted Memorial with her, especially seeing as it was to be held in Godric's Hollow. The idea of visiting that village still filled him with a sense of foreboding. In a way he had decided, years ago, that if he had visited the place of Lily's death, and her statue and grave, then he would be saying goodbye to their past. For good. He previously had no wish to close the door to his past, as he had no intention of moving on. His extreme level of guilt at her demise, and the terrible relationship between them for the years leading up to it left him with such a need for repentance that he went along with all of Albus Dumbledore's plans, he watched over Harry, took his place amongst the Dark Lord's followers again.

And, until recently, he had no wish to usurp her as the vision of feminine perfection. However, at nights he no longer found his weary mind travelling back to the warm memories of years before. No more did his illicit fantasies take him back to a time in the past where she forgave him, welcomed him into her arms, and prevented the last few decades of his dreadful existence. Instead he found that the thought of taking Ginevra Weasley as his own was his new recurrent fantasy. He had thought of many reasons for this; her vulnerability, empathy for her mourning, her beauty and innocence. The one reason he could not deny, however, was that he was forming an attachment to the young witch. It was this reluctant revelation that made him conclude that _if_, and only if, she chose to go to the Memorial Service then he would accompany her.

He knew that his use of the term naive to describe her wasn't fair. For a young woman her age she was exceptionally mature and keenly aware of life's sufferings. What he had meant to say was that she was too optimistic in her opinion of people. Ginevra had very rarely had contact with the self-concerned, prejudiced and bigoted people that he had dealt with his entire life. She would have had very little reason to have been bullied throughout her school years, in fact, it appeared that she was the object of many boys affections at Hogwarts. That, coupled with the kindness of her family meant that she had never felt the true spurn of some of the less forgiving in their society.

Breakfast that morning was a subdued affair lacking all of the passion that he and Ginny had shared the morning before. Her steely glances and monosyllabic responses to his questions made his gut twist uncomfortably. His lack of support for her the previous night had clearly upset her, and, despite his rational side fighting against it- he felt somewhat guilty. His mind wandered to that lustful kiss they had shared and he felt a heavy sensation in the pit of his stomach. Severus couldn't deny the effect that she had on him yesterday.

"Ginevra," he begun before he could stop himself, her brown eyes glared at him from behind the Daily Prophet "would you like to accompany me to Diagon Alley this evening? I have some supplies to gather and I thought that we would be able to get an early dinner while we are gone." He silently berated his obvious attempt to make amends for last night, and not only that, but he had want for nothing at Diagon Alley. If she accepted his invitation he would now have to figure out something that he could buy so she didn't discover his pretence.

Ginny's eyes assessed him. This was not an apology, but it was the closest he would come to one. His blunt denial to accompany her to the Memorial had clearly upset her and he wished to make reparation for this. Besides Tonks and Remus, Ginny was the only person willing to show him any interest, and after years of never being trusted by anyone other than Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort, her regard had started to chip away at the layer of protective ice around his heart. He had no true desire to turn Ginny away from him, and the heat in her kisses had warmed him right down to his core- he was too selfish to relinquish that rare pleasure so soon.

"That sound fine." Ginny said evenly "What time are we leaving?"

"Half Four should give us plenty of time, I don't have much to get."

* * *

Ginny gave herself one last assessing look in the mirror and smiled. When Severus had invited her out with him that morning she could no longer be angry with him for the previous night. After having time to think about it she now realised that it was unfair of her to assume that he would follow her blindly. She should have known that Godric's Hollow would have been as much a source of pain for him as it was for her. For this she hadn't expected an apology from him, as there was no real need; he had only been honest with her. However she felt that his flippant assessment of her so called naivety did warrant some sort of concession on his part. So she was pleasantly surprised at his request for company. She had seen this as an attempt on his part to clear the air between them, and was the closet to an apology she would be likely to get. It was reassuring for her to know that he, too, was still uncomfortable from the discussion the evening before and wanted to repair the damage.

With her long red hair brushed neatly down her back, dressed in black boots, a knee-length flared skirt, and a pure white form-fitting blouse, she left her room to meet Severus in the hall at exactly four thirty. When she arrived he took her hand in his and brought her fingers to his lips for a soft, lingering kiss.

"Thank you for agreeing to accompany me." He said with a slight tug playing at the corner of his lips. She watched him for a moment, trying to decide what her response ought to be. She knew that he would not be the first to make mention of last night's discussion but she wanted to clear something up before they departed.

"I am _not_ naive." She said warily, still thoroughly aware of the warm tingle that his kiss had incited running through her bloodstream. His smirk turned into a slight frown and he looked at her as though gauging her present mood.

"No," he conceded "just far too willing to believe in the good of others." He added by way of explanation. She frowned but found she could not argue.

"It doesn't always turn out so badly." She said with a suggestive smile. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest, pleased to know that he did not consider her to be too immature for his attention. "Let's go, then." She said and he apparated them to Diagon Alley.

* * *

When they spun into place at the entrance to the magical shopping village it took Ginny minute or two to gain her composure. Her dislike for side-along apparition was based on the fact that it took her longer to regain her bearings when someone else had been in control. If it were she that had been the one to apparate she would have had a sense of her place within an instant. Seeing as how it was not her determining the point of their arrival it constantly confused her to turn up somewhere slightly different from what would have been her chosen apparition point.

"Next time," Ginny said looking at the Apothecary and cauldron shop on either side of her and realising they were at the Leaky Cauldron entrance "I will be the one to apparate."

"I don't think so." Severus responded with a derisive snort "I have no wish to be splinched."

"Well, too bad, since I would aim to leave that cheeky tongue of yours behind." Ginny said with a grin, guessing that his comment had been in jest. His face contorted into a look of mock outrage before he bent close to her, his hot breath tickling the hair tucked behind her ear.

"That would make kissing me rather boring though, wouldn't it?" He murmured and Ginny had to stop herself from swooning as he planted a chaste kiss on her cheek before pulling away from her. He placed his hand on its preferred position on the small of her back and led her towards the Apothecary.

* * *

In the hours that had passed since breakfast Severus had done an inventory of all of his current tools and ingredients in order to determine what he was lacking. He cursed his rash invitation now, knowing that he would have to find something of relative importance to buy in order to keep with his charade. Much to his dismay he did not really want for anything, after all there was only so much bristlewort and potion phials a person could have before it became ridiculous.

Severus wondered if, perhaps, he should have just taken a blunt approach to this whole excursion and invited her out for dinner. Though that would have been a blatantly obvious attempt to regain her good regard it would have most likely been preferable to shopping for things he didn't really need or want. Severus was not fond of shopping and was more than happy to go to Diagon Alley, get what he wanted, and leave without all of the fluffing about some people seemed to prefer. While it seemed she was automatically inclined to accept this opportunity to spend time together he supposed that pretending he needed to get something meant not having to admit that he just wanted an opportunity to spend time with her.

Severus and Ginny had spent a good half hour exploring every nook and cranny of the Apothecary for extremely rare or obscure ingredients. Severus knew that he could have just bought some of his most commonly used potions ingredients, but he already had so many of those and if his years as a double agent had taught him anything it was to have a story that could be backed by evidence.

So when the shop keeper closed at five and shuttled Ginevra and himself out of the Apothecary Severus was relieved that he had not managed to find any of the ingredients that he had told Ginny he needed, and had avoided wasting money on things he didn't actually need.

"What on earth did you need Rafflesia Arnoldii leaf for?" Ginny asked, it was clear on her face that she was genuinely disturbed that they had been unable to procure what he wanted, he felt his already considerable sense of affection for her grow.

"Just a potion." He replied vaguely, this elicited a sigh from her.

"Clearly!" She shot back at him "What _type_ of potion?" She said slowly.

"Do you not remember your seventh year potion class describing some of the rarest flowering plants and their uses?" Severus drawled, Ginny rolled her eyes "It is a giant, unisexual, rootless and stemless flower found only found in certain rain-forests in South-East Asia where it lives a parasitic existence thanks to the succulence of a vine called Tetrastigma . It is known to the locals as the 'corpse flower'..." he begun, hoping that she would catch on to his hints and be able to figure out what the potion was for herself.

After a few moments of standing outside of the shop while he waited for Ginny's response he gave in.

"Did you not pay any attention to my potions classes?" He said with a sigh, Ginny's lips creased into a frown.

"Yes- I did." She snapped irritably "I am just trying to figure out why on earth you wish to brew a potion that would allow you to grow extra male or female sexual organs." Severus froze in place as she figured out his riddle. He hadn't thought that she would identify the potion; he just had to choose an ingredient that he knew would not be available at this particular Apothecary and work from there.

"I don't." He said "The ingredient has other uses." He said, hoping it that would end the awkward direction of the conversation.

"You said that the locals call it a 'corpse flower', in most cases that means it stinks like decaying corpses. The fact that it is asexual means that it lends itself to potions that call for gender variation of some sort. In addition to that it is parasitic, meaning that it thrives off another body but cannot exist without it meaning that whatever it creates is reliant on the body it inhabits, and it cannot create anything effects without it. Considering growing extra appendages is classed by some to be a necromantic practice –fitting in with the odour and nature of the flower- what other, possibly more righteous, uses could it have?" Ginny said with obvious interest. It was only his years as a double agent that stopped Severus' jaw from making contact with the ground.

"Surprised?" Ginny asked with a smirk "See, I did pay some attention to your lectures." Severus was in awe of her very well thought out answer. He had known that she was a good student all round, and that she was much better than the majority of other potions students in her year, but the way she reasoned the use of ingredients showed a level of understanding he wasn't aware she possessed.

"Well Miss Weasley," He said in his best classroom voice "Fifty points to Gryffindor. Now, will you allow me to buy you dinner?"

"Yes... but- you didn't answer my question. What potion are you making?"

"Shall we go to the Leaky Cauldron or find somewhere a little nicer?"

"Severus, what potion is it for?"

"There is a nice cafe just next to the Daily Prophet HQ, should we go there instead?"

"Severus! Come on, I am curious- what are you-"

"Yes, I think that cafe should do quite nicely. Let's go there." His attempt to distract her with the idea of dinner had completely failed. He wasn't overly surprised, as he knew she could be very persistent when she wanted to be. So he did the only thing he thought of that would truly distract her.

Leaning down towards her she noticed his change of tactic a moment before his lips crushed against hers. If it had been earlier in the day, if Diagon Alley had been busier, he wouldn't have been so blatant in his affection. As it was there was only the occasional passer-by who rushed from place to place as the work day drew to a close.

Ginny melted into his kiss endearingly and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. She ran his hands up her back and along his shoulders before holding fast to either side of his face, making sure he wasn't going to pull away. When her tongue slid across his lips, begging entrance, he had neither the will nor restraint to deny her. After a few moments however, he felt the stirring of his arousal and knew that continuing would mean that their actions met a rating that was well beyond what was decent for public. She tried to hold his face as he pulled away but he was much stronger.

"Dinner?" He asked, voice hoarse with unfulfilled desired. She nodded mutely and they made their way to the cafe.

* * *

Ginny and Severus were enjoying their nice warm butterbeers in the cosy cafe Severus had chosen. They had ordered their meals and were waiting for them to arrive. The shop was lovely and homely, something between a tea house and a cafe. There were about five other couples in there, all sitting closely and holding hands, whispering over their all but forgotten meals. Severus and Ginny, however, were sitting back in their seats and not conversing- both seemingly still delighting in the afterglow of their passionate kiss.

"Severus, which is your favourite of the Tales of Beedle the Bard?" Ginny asked, suddenly snapping out of her silent reverie. Severus shrugged.

"I've never really given much thought to it..." He said, her look clearly said that she wasn't going to accept that as an answer "I suppose that The _Warlock's Hairy Heart_ has always appealed to me the most. " His response made Ginny scrunch her nose in distaste.

"Well, that is a horrible tale!" Ginny said "It is so horrible to think that someone's heart was so twisted that they could never feel-" Ginny stopped her assessment and looked at him, her eyes scrutinising every detail of his face. That story was anything but happy. The warlock, having decided that love was a futile and wasteful thing, locked his heart away. When he finally decided it was time to marry he put his heart back in his chest it; but was twisted and bitter, he killed the woman he planned to marry and took her pure heart out to replace his, only to die before he did so.

Severus watched as the implication of what this tale meant to him dawned across Ginny's features. He, too, had locked his heart away. Fearing the pain, suffering and enslavement that came with love. In this admission he had revealed to her one of his deepest fears- that loving her may be impossible with such a damaged heart. She reached across the table and slipped her hand over his, the sheen of tears in her eyes.

"If you asked me three weeks ago what my favourite tale would have been I would have told you it was _The Tale of the Three Brothers,_" Ginny told him softly "I know the story says that the stone the second brother received produced only a shadow of those lost, and that it drove him mad with despair, but Severus- I would have given anything to see Harry again, even just for a moment." Even though he didn't expect Ginny to be over her love of Harry he couldn't help but stiffen at this answer, the memories of their shared kisses making him wonder if she had been imagining Potter in his place.

"But-" she continued with a small sad smile "If you ask me now which I prefer- I will tell you it is _The Fountain of Fair Fortune_." Severus played with this in his mind, trying to understand what she was trying to tell him. He had never held much store by _The Fountain of Fair Fortune_, thinking it a fantastical and overly optimistic piece of fluff. "The idea that Amata and Sir Luckless fell in love despite their pasts give me hope. I don't think it is the end result that matter Severus, but how you achieve it. Unlike Amata's lover who was cruel and faithless, Harry was kind and caring." She squeezed his hand as her admission of Harry's love made him turn away from her "But like Amata, I must wash myself of the treasure of my past, Severus. You have helped me these past weeks and shown me that while the past was brilliant and bright, there is a serious possibility that my future will be equally as bright."

Severus blinked several times before his face broke into what could only be called a true smile. The corners of his mouth turns decisively upwards and the happiness reached deep into his eyes, a gleeful light dancing in the cavernous darkness. Ginny had to stop concentrate to stop herself from crying. She was pleased that her words had touched him, and she was sure she had never seen that look in his eyes before. She reached out to stroke his cheek but before her hand connected with his skin they were interrupted by two dishes floating down to land on their table. The intimacy of that moment floated away and Ginny withdrew her hand with a sigh.

* * *

After procuring two lovely meals of baked pork, baked potatoes and veggies to take home for Remus and Tonks, Severus and Ginny wandered the length of Diagon Alley, hand in hand twice before regretfully calling an end to their night out.

Their chat about the Tales of Beedle the Bard led to conversation where each revealed slightly more about their feelings. Ginny learned a little more about Severus' abusive father and downtrodden mother. Ginny had told Severus about how she and her family had lived a stressful and strained life just before the Final Battle.

Ginny stopped walking and pulled Severus close to her, careful to avoid knocking the meals out of his hand. She snaked her arms around his waist and grinned.

"Ready to be splinched?" She asked, Severus had the gall to look horrified before a loud crack sounded through Diagon Alley and they disapparated on Ginny's terms.

They arrived in the same spot they had left hours earlier to a quiet house. Ginny's guess was that Remus and Tonks had decided to have a nap while Andromeda slept. She usually had a short nap around this time before waking up for her last feed before midnight.

"Perhaps we should leave their dinners in the kitchen?" Ginny asked and Severus nodded. Ginny untangled herself from him reluctantly but gripped his hands as they made their way towards the kitchen. Severus placed the packages on the table and took out his wand, using a non-verbal spell to write a short message to them hoping that they enjoy their meals.

Satisfied that Remus and Tonks would get their dinner they left the room and silently made their way upstairs. The realisation that this wonderful night was coming to an end weighed heavily between them. Back in the confines of Grimmauld Place it was far too easy for both of them to remember the sense of mourning that had initially brought them together. When they reached the door to Severus' room they stopped.

"Can we try to find lawyer tomorrow?" She asked shyly. Severus looked down at the strikingly beautiful redhead before him and brought his hand up to caress her porcelain skin.

"If you wish." His he replied. They both hesitated, clearly wishing to say more but not wanting the night to end.

"Thank you for dinner" Ginny whispered, leaning her cheek in to his caress. The feel of her skin made him want to groan in desire, but then her eyes closed slowly and her lips began to part which was all the invitation Severus needed to lean into her and claim her lips as his own.

It took less time then he could comprehend for the erotic stirring in his groin to transform into the beginnings of a very eager erection. It was the feeling of her silky lips on his, her tongue carefully tasting his own, that brought the repressed groan to his lips. Sensing his desire Ginny deepened their kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist. He responded by running his hands slowly down her back and resting them on her curvaceously delicious behind.

Ginny's sigh at the feeling of his hands on her caused his erection to harden further. Driven mad by his growing desire for her he threw caution to the wind and pressed himself against her forcefully. The feeling of his arousal pressed hard between their bodies sent a new, more insistent surge of desire coursing needily through his veins. He continued his uncharacteristically daring exploration of her body, sliding his hands underneath the starched cotton of her white blouse, deft fingers drinking in every inch of her full hips and narrow waist before travelling further up and subtly exploring the outer curves of her breasts.

Severus gasped as she pushed him hard against his bedroom door, adding extra leverage to her hips, allowing her to slowly press into his erection. The pleasure tingled though his body and he bit her bottom lip softly before pulling away from their kiss. Both of them panting heavily.

Ginny's hungry eyes held a questioning look and he rested his head back against the door. He knew very well that going beyond this point would make it very difficult for him to exercise any effective measure of self-control. Sensing his hesitation Ginny's reached out for the door handle to the right of his waist and turned the knob slowly. When the door sprung free of it's holdings Severus let out a low growl and leant over, scooping Ginny up into his arms. He carried her over to his bed, kicking his shoes off on the way, and sat on the edge, her on his lap.

They resumed their passionate kiss. Both quickly filling with feverish lust that would only be sated when they had fully explored each other. He reached down and unzipped her boots, pushing them onto the floor with a thump. Ginny's hands were fumbling at the buttons of his shirt and Severus pulled back slightly, too impatient to wait for her to rid him of this dreaded garment. Sensing his desperation Ginny climbed off his lap and kneeled on the bed beside him, her own hands skilfully working her own buttons out of their holes.

Severus watched her unbutton her blouse, his eyes filled with undisguised desire. The fabric of her top slowly fell apart to reveal a perfectly rounded set of breasts hidden behind a white satin bra. His breath caught in his throat and he was painfully aware of the fact that his erection was throbbing against the fabric of his pants, desperate to be free of its restrictive bindings. The alluring pink blush that possessed Ginny's skin in reaction to her exposure to him only fuelled his desire further.

Severus leant forward, his own shirt hanging open to reveal a firm, but not toned alabaster chest splattered with fine dark hair. Amongst the hair were the muted pink scars from numerous years of being in the Dark Lord's presence. Severus' ravenous desire was halted as he watched her eyes take in every detail of what his shirt had hidden. What was he thinking- surely the scars would turn her off- disgust her. Ginny smiled as her eyes drank in every centimetre of his bared chest. She reached forward, roughly catching his collar in her hands and pulling his lips hard against hers. She slipped her hands under the shoulders of his shirt and pushed it back off is shoulder. Her eyes slid quickly over the Dark Mark emblazoned on his forearm before shrugging off her own top, he barely gave her a chance to withdraw her arms from her sleeves before continuing his lustful assault.

"Severus." She moaned, his sudden bout of self-consciousness dematerialised, replaced by an unprecedented rush of desire at hearing his name released from her lips with such lust and longing.

A guttural moan shook through his body and he, not too gently, pushed her back against his mattress. He swung his legs onto the bed and reclined beside her. Instead of kissing her again he brought one hand down to caress her breast through the luminous white fabric of her bra, and then brought his mouth down to explore the sumptuous skin of her breasts. Kissing and licking where he pleased he continued his pointed attention, feeling a deep satisfaction as her nipples hardened through the thin fabric and her hands tangled through his hair, dragging his mouth down to her other neglected peak.

He sucked at her though the fabric and was overtaken by a desperate urge to free her glorious breasts from their prison. He slid his hand behind her back and tried to unhook her bra. He growled in frustration when his inexperienced fingers failed their mission and he angrily pulled them away and shoved them in his pocket, deciding to use his wand to achieve his goal. He ignored the smirk that played across Ginny's lips at his obvious failure. He flicked his wand and, with understated ease, he sensed the hooks on her bra come undone. He threw the wand ungratefully onto the floor beside the bed, not caring what happened to his most prized possession. He was more concerned with removing her undergarment.

With a satisfied sigh he reached over and slid the straps from her shoulders. Ginny's hot gaze held his own as he reached down, slipping a finger under the bridge of her bra and slowly lifted it upwards. She pulled her arms free of the straps and he threw the satin garment aside. He let out an audible breath of appreciation and the fine work of nature in front of him. Each of her full and high breasts was peaked with the most deliciously pink nipples. Each of them hardened from his ministrations. He took a silent moment to appreciate her beauty before carefully, and slowly, lowering his lips down to claim one of the brilliant apexes as his. His tongue whirled in delicate circles around her aroused skin and her back arched, bringing her more forcefully into his mouth. He pressed himself into her leg and she moaned. He wished that he could devote more time to worshipping her perfectly formed orbs but he pulled his mouth reluctantly away and looked at her bodily hungrily, his erection now painfully firm against his trousers. He ran his hands over her bare torso, impatient to see more of this Goddess that lay before him. He traced circles down her stomach and brought his hand to rest on the waistband of her skirt. He looked into her eyes, begging for permission to continue.

Instead she struggled away from him and got to her knees. Her hands were on his shoulder and this time he was forced back, flat against the mattress. She straddled his lap, her core mere centimetres away from his erection, separated by too many smothering layers of clothing. She leant over and kissed his neck, then his collar bone. She then continued to lead a straight trail of kisses down his chest and stomach, each kiss igniting a fire of desire in his nerves as her lips made contact. He gasped in surprise as her hand gripped his erection through his pants and she gave him a tight squeeze.

"Oh Ginny." He groaned, this time it was her name on his lips that sent a visible thrill through her. Encouraged by his response she begun to stroke him softly over the fabric, careful not to pull any fabric tighter against his tip. Her lips continued a tantalising trail lower and lower until they were barred further passage by the waist band of his pants.

He watched, eyes wide, as she concentrated wholly on freeing him from his confines. Her breasts brushed against him as she worked the button free and slowly undid his zipper. He closed his eyes, barely able to believe his luck. It had been a long time since he had had sex and, now, with the real possibility of intercourse racing closer he felt himself losing control. He pried his eyes open just in time to see her grip the waistband of his pants and jocks together and pulled them up, over, and down in one swift move. His erection sprung free of its confines and stood, firm and eager. He felt an inexplicable sense of pride as she eyes his manhood appreciatively.

Ever so slowly Ginny brought her right hand up and grasped him gently. Her soft strokes increasingly becoming firmer and faster. He closed his eyes and relished the feeling of her hot hand around him. A few moments later when he felt an amazing soft wetness against his tip his eyes tore open again.

The sight of it alone enough was to make him want to come. Her heavenly lips had encased the very tip of him, her tongue would skilful circles around his most sensitive spot as her hand leisurely ran up and down his length. Her sheet of flaming red hair fell to one side and partially curtained her face, but half of her expression was enough for him to see the concentration and effort she put into his pleasure. Beyond this curtain of hair he could also see her perfect, naked breasts resting lightly on his thighs. An increased sense of lust overwhelmed him and he thrust his hips up, forcing her to take more of him into her mouth. A delighted moan vibrated against his tip and he pushed a little further, begging to be encased by her. He could see a smile form on her lips around his member and she brought her left hand up, forcing his pelvis back down onto the bed.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a miniscule flash of light but he ignored it and shut his eyes tightly, eager to devote all of his senses to focus on the feel of her tongue on his tip. He put his hand on top of the one she had placed on his pelvis and felt a something sharp bite into his palm. His eyes peeked open and he took his hand off hers. It was then that he, for a second time, caught the unexpected glint of refracted street light coming off the solitaire embedded in the ring on her left hand. A sense of guilt flooded through him and he brought his spare hand down to her head, the other hand still firmly on hers.

"Ginny," He muttered, knowing that he would probably regret this for the rest of his life. She mistook his call for desire and took him deeper in her exquisite mouth - it took every ounce of will he had to call out her name again- louder and with a clear request for her attention. She pulled her mouth away from his arousal and her hands slowed in their ministrations. The slow pace she kept was just enough to prevent his erection from failing.

"Ginny- please, stop!" He said irritably, unable to stomach the feeling of her hand gliding up and down his member while guilt burnt through his body. A pained look came over her face and he felt like screaming.

"W-what's wrong?" She asked, breath still heavy with desire. He steeled himself against his unfulfilled desire, determined not to let this charade continue.

"This." He said, pulling her left hand from his pelvis and bringing it up into the beam of light that the streetlamp cast into his room. Her ring caught the light in a magnificent rainbow of colours and he felt her entire body deflate against his.

"Please- I need you." She said, her face pressed against his thighs. He slowly sat up, careful not to dislodge her head from his lap too forcefully. On his way up he gripped his pants and pulled them back up around his waist. An angry sense of self-betrayal flooded him as his body realised that its lust would go unsated yet again, but his conscious weighed to heavily against him for him to allow this to continue.

He watched as Ginny looked up at him, overwhelmed by a mix of desire and guilt. He reached over and stroked her cheek tenderly. His eyes unable to avoid looking down at the engagement ring on her finger. As long as she was still wearing that, the symbol of her devotion to Harry Potter, he could not – in good conscience- seduce her. He had to admit that he was pleasantly surprised that the liaison between them had not conjured long past memories of his time spent with Lily. He was concerned, however, that Ginny might not be ready to push Harry from her mind just yet.

"When you are ready to do this, without guilt or remorse, or thinking of Harry while we couple, then we can continue. Until then please rest assured that I will wait for you- however long it takes." He whispered. The tears fell freely from her eyes as she slid off his bed and slowly reaching down to retrieve her previously forgotten garments before dressing and quickly fleeing his room.

"Fuck." Severus groaned as he threw himself back against his bed. So close, yet so very far.

* * *

A/N: Okay... Sorry it took so long to post this one up, but I needed to read through it again and get rid of some nasty errors. Chapter 12 is complete, just in need of review, and chapter 13 is half-finished. I will try to post chapter 12 next week but 13 will probably have to wait until the following week, or the one after that due to an insane amount of commitments I have to deal with. I hope that the insanely excessive and long almost-sex-scene makes up for the length of time it took for me to get this posted.

Special thanks to circular-illumination, nagandsev and DracoGinnyLover24 for the wonderful reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	12. Order of Merlin

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Twelve: **Order of Merlin

* * *

_He watched as Ginny looked up at him, overwhelmed by a mix of desire and guilt. He reached over and stroked her cheek tenderly. His eyes unable to avoid looking down at the engagement ring on her finger. As long as she was still wearing that, the symbol of her devotion to Harry Potter, he could not – in good conscience- seduce her. He had to admit that he was pleasantly surprised that the liaison between them had not conjured long past memories of his time spent with Lily. He was concerned, however, that Ginny might not be ready to push Harry from her mind just yet._

"_When you are ready to do this, without guilt or remorse, or thinking of Harry while we couple, then we can continue. Until then please rest assured that I will wait for you- however long it takes." He whispered. The tears fell freely from her eyes as she slid off his bed and slowly reaching down to retrieve her previously forgotten garments before dressing and quickly fleeing his room._

"_Fuck." Severus cried as he threw himself back against his bed. So close, yet so very far._

* * *

The next morning Severus got out of bed early. To say that he had little sleep would have been an enormous understatement. His body refused to let him forget Ginevra's heated attention and no matter how hard he tried to ignore his physical needs they continued to vex him. His relief came, angry and rough, only for him to fall asleep and fall prey to a multitude of dreams where he ignored her ring and they continued their heated night of passion. Each of his dreams had a different ending which meant that by the time he woke from his disruptive sleep in the morning he was hard and in desperate need of further relief.

While his rebellious body punished him sorely for his transgressions his conscience was clear. Even though he had no doubt at all that Ginny was interested in him romantically he did not want her to have sex with him merely to fend off the loneliness that she felt after her loss. He wanted to wait until he was confident that she was able to focus on their coupling as an intimate act between them, without the need to replace her lost lover driving her actions.

It was that reasoning coupled with the immediate jealousy that flooded him when he noticed her engagement ring that fuelled his decision. As long as she was wearing that ring, clinging to that last hope of the future she lost with Harry, she would not be in the right frame of mind for his approaches. What concerned Severus the most was what she would think of his reluctance.

Severus found that writing to various lawyers that he had recalled from his past was an adequate distraction. In his work with Dumbledore and Voldemort he had managed to socialise with some of the upper crust- prejudiced and not- in Wizarding Society. He just hoped that he would be able to find someone that would take Ginny's case on for a reduced fee and sympathetic ear. It was for this reason that he chose to only write to those who he had met through Albus Dumbledore. In addition to that Severus sent a letter enquiring, on Ginny's behalf, for legal aide from the Ministry's own legal department.

He didn't think Ginny would mind his initiative as he seriously doubted that she had any contacts in this area. At least in this way he was able to help her, saving her the hassle of trawling through the Daily Prophet and owling numerous, questionably skilled, lawyers. He had met each of the people he had owled personally and had hear of cases that made him feel confident to vouch for their adequacy.

Severus had also decided that it was high time he tried to find himself a new job and, in addition to writing to lawyers, he wrote letters of enquiry to a number of different universities, potions guilds and research departments. He had no intention of going back to Hogwarts to teach now that he was free of his obligations to Dumbledore. He was thrilled that he would now be able to pursue a career of his choice, away from dunder-headed students with the attention span of snitches.

When the last letter was written and attached to the leg of Remus' owl, which he had told Severus to use at his convenience, he sat back and took a long draw of his coffee. It was just past seven in the morning and he sincerely hoped that Ginny would not hold a grudge against him for last night. Surely she knew it was for the best.

* * *

Ginny was well aware of Severus' reasons for stopping their liaison. In one way she couldn't blame him, but that didn't stop her blood from icing up at his rejection. Ginny spent the night thinking about what he had said to her.

Her engagement ring had become a part of her. After a week of wearing the precious item on her fingers she no longer felt the awkwardness of it pressing into her other fingers. She no longer felt the need to constantly fiddle with it. Up until Harry's death it had been a breathtaking symbol of their plans for the future. Their determination to have a family and life a happy life, uninterrupted by the woes of war. They had agreed to start planning their wedding once Voldemort had been defeated.

When Harry died in the final battle the ring transformed in her mind. Now it was the only physical reminder she had left of her departed lover. It's unrelenting shape circling her finger was a real reminder of all that she had lost, but she had been unable to remove it. She had tried a number of times in the early days of her mourning, but after numerous attempts she gave up and took comfort from its familiar presence. A pleasant reminder of the good times she had shared with Harry.

When she had returned to her room after fleeing from Severus she had tried to take it off, desperately wanting to prove him wrong. After the afternoon they had spent together she no longer doubted her affection towards him. She knew that they had both wanted to pursue a relationship, to see if they could possibly make something out of the dregs of the war. But Severus was right, she was not ready just yet to relinquish her last link to Harry. She could understand his reluctance though- he was right, he did not deserve to be used as a replacement for Harry. While she had accepted Harry's passing, his loss still left a hole in her heart. She had an inkling that Severus may just be the person to fill that spot, but until she was sure she couldn't bear to relinquish her last link to Harry.

It was well past eight in the morning when Ginny made her way downstairs, somewhat relieved to find that only Remus was in the kitchen. She wasn't quiet sure that she was ready to see Severus just yet. Despite understanding his rejection of her it still stung and she could not guarantee she would treat him cordially should they run into each other. She made herself a bowl of cereal and grabbed a glass of juice before joining the mousy-haired man at the table.

"Morning." He said with a smile. She smiled her reply and concentrated on her breakfast. "Ginny- is anything wrong?" He asked.

"Why on earth would you think that?" She replied tersely shoving a spoon of cereal unceremoniously into her mouth, not willing to share any details with Remus.

"I ran into Severus earlier, he seemed... Well, let's just say he didn't seem to pleased." Remus explained diplomatically. Ginny snorted. "Ginny, I just want you to know that you can talk to me. I know what it is like to have lost so many people, and as it is, you, Severus, Nymphadora and Andromeda are all I have left of my previous life. Please know that I do care for you."

Ginny's resolve faltered with Remus' kind words. He was right, she herself had very few people to rely on and she knew deep down that he would be one of the people she would be able to call on for the rest of her life, for any reason. With a sigh she chewed her cereal and raised her left hand in the air, waggling her fingers about. It took him a moment to understand what he was trying to say but when he caught the glint of the diamond ring in the light of the kitchen he nodded in acknowledgement.

"I see." He murmured pensively, he watched her carefully. "You know," Remus began "Severus and I have a few things in common." Ginny's eyebrows raised and he smiled "Don't tell him that though." He said with a grin.

"Wouldn't dare." Ginny said taking a sip of juice.

"When Nymphadora first revealed her feelings for me it was extremely difficult. I had no doubt that I could, very quickly, fall in love with her but I was hardened by years of defending my heart from any possible pain. Not only was Tonks young and beautiful but she was smart and wise and had a brilliantly good heart. It was hard for me to imagine that her interest in me could go beyond a passing fling." A sad smile came across Remus' face as he recounted his feelings.

"The idea that such a beautiful young woman could be interested in me went about everything I knew. I was terrified that if I opened up to her she would only be amused with me for a short while before moving on to someone younger... undamaged."

Ginny could remember all too well Tonks' depression at Remus' reluctance to be with her. She went from being bright and bubbly to being reserved and lovesick. During that time Ginny remembered thinking that Remus was terrible for turning her down so. She had never given a second thought to his reasons- surely Tonks' interest was enough for him to know she cared.

"In the end, Tonks' persistence finally won out." His eyes glazed over as he undoubtedly remembered a treasured moment between them "But it hasn't been easy... Moving in together, getting married, and now being a father?" He laughed "I had long ago resigned myself to life as a bachelor..." He trailed off.

"What I am saying, Ginny, is that Severus has a lot of pain in his past. His loss of Lily cut him deeply and he has been severely used by two masters for nearly seven years." He looked at her, assessing her with his kind brown eyes and cleared his throat.

"But I _want _to be with him." Ginny whispered, her appetite lost and her bowl of cereal all but forgotten.

"The question is for how long." Remus told her softly "Severus knows that he would not be able to survive another bout of unrequited love. If he questions your attraction to him he only does so to protect himself." Remus reached across the table and took Ginny's left hand in his right, examining the ring more closely. "If he is anything like me, he has already waited years for someone to love him, waiting a while longer for you won't bother him too much."

Ginny looked into Remus eyes and a sense of affection for him surged within her. She knew beyond a doubt that he understood what Severus' concern was. She was grateful that he did not mention Harry, and she was also thankful that he had spoken so plainly and kindly. She smiled at him.

"Thank you Remus." She said, a tear trailing forlornly down her cheek "It means a lot that you have shared that with me." Remus cleared his throat and nodded. He stood from his seat and brushed the crumbs of his toast from his lap.

"Right." He said, "Well, I'll let you get back to your breakfast... And Ginny? If you ever want a chat just know that I am here."

* * *

After midday there was a knock on Ginny's door and she tore her attention away from the novel she was reading.

"Come in." She said, the door creaked open to reveal Severus, clutching a number of pieces of parchment in his hands. He crossed the floor of her room in three long strides and sat beside her on her bed, the mattress sagging under the additional weight.

"I took the liberty of contacting a number of lawyers this morning in order to find one to represent you when you apply for deputyship of your brothers." He drawled, holding the pile of parchment out for her. Numbly she reached out and took the documents from her, her heart skipping a beat and breath catching in her throat as their fingers touched. Her mind travelled back to the previous night and a vision of his face painted with the pleasure of her mouth being around his arousal made her face flush a deep shade of red.

"Thankyou... I didn't expect... after last night, that is." She could no longer handle the intensity of his fathomless black gaze on her and turned her face from his. His fingertips softly caressed the her cheek.

"Like I said Ginevra," He said, voice unusually hoarse. "I am willing to wait for you. In the mean time I will assist you in your endeavours in any way I can." His hand fell away from her cheek and she released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She felt the warmth that had filled her at dinner the previous night return, luxuriating in his obvious endearment towards her.

Instead of looking up at him her eyes scanned through the documents. There were three replies but one caught her interest.

"This one," She held up the parchment that held the crest of the Ministry of Magic on the top "This says that the lawyer had a cancellation this afternoon and would be willing to see me." She looked up to see that Severus was still watching her. He nodded mutely and waited for her to continue.

"This afternoon..." She mused. She hadn't expected anyone to respond to her so swiftly. She had no idea of exactly how long the process would be, but she had thought it would be quiet lengthy. When she had asked Severus to help her find a lawyer the previous evening she had no idea that she could possibly be meeting with one today. The suddenness of it all set her mind racing.

"Will you come with me?" She asked meekly, looking up at him through her eyelashes. She felt positively horrible asking him for such a favour after the events of last night, but she had no desire to meet any lawyer alone. She knew the experience might well be very intimidating and, if Severus was there, it would offer her a source of comfort.

"If you wish." He said with a nod. "I'll send an owl to the lawyer to confirm the meeting, and meet you by the fireplace at four?"

"That sounds great." She said. He stood and smoothed his pants before heading towards the door "Severus?" She said, stopping him in his tracks "Thankyou... again." Her voice was thick with emotion when he turned to look at her she had no doubt that he was able to read into her words enough to know she was thanking him for much more than finding her a lawyer.

* * *

The meeting with the lawyer, Harold Mulpepper, went much better than Ginny had expected. As they approached his office on the level of the Ministry of Magic Ginny had been so nervous that walking had been difficult. True to his work though, Severus was there to support her, and the now familiar feel of his hand on the small of her back gave her enough confidence to continue. Harold was, in fact, the lawyer that had been assigned to Fred, George and Ron as deputy by default. The first ten minutes passed confirming Ginny's fears. For ten minutes the man fired blunt and probing questions at her, which Ginny had no doubt were to assess her state of mind and maturity.

After the last question was answered he gave her a friendly smile, seemingly impressed with her answers, and told her that the process would be relatively. Ginny had sighed a breath of relief at his change of attitude. He then proceeded to explain the ins and outs of what deputyship would entail and proved himself to be quiet friendly despite his earlier interrogation. He also mentioned that, as their meeting was procured on the basis of legal aide, she would not be liable to pay him a fee. Ginny's entire body flooded with relief at this. She had not been to her family vault in a long while, but she didn't have to go there to know that it would be relatively empty. She had been concerned that a lawyer would be beyond her means and that she would not be able to pursue her decision to become deputy for her brothers.

Ginny left his office with an official Ministry document summons to appear in court for the transfer of deputyship in exactly one week. Ginny's initial shock at how quickly and smoothly things were going wore of slowly on the trip back to Grimmauld Place, and by the time she and Severus had flooed back into the lounge room she was filled with new sense of calm. She had made the first step and, if Harold Mulpepper was to be trusted, it would be a smooth and quick process.

While the idea of having such responsibility for her brothers still intimidated her, there was a rightness to it all. It went against her conscience to have a stranger, however kind, to be the one making decisions for her family.

When Severus arrived in the lounge room behind her and stepped out of the roaring emerald flames of the fireplace she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She rested the side of her face against his chest and could hear his steady heartbeat. Once he had recovered from the suddenness of her embrace his arms circled her waist.

"Severus, thank you so much for today... For everything." She told him, she turned her face up so she could see his. He lowered his lips and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. She felt his fingers come up to trace her cheek and she leant in to his touch.

* * *

The next two days passed uneventfully, Severus and Ginny had managed a stolen kiss or a lingering touch every now and again, but each was very aware of the conditions that Severus had placed on them becoming intimate and neither were willing to participate in anything that would result in any extra unfulfilled longing.

Eight days before the Memorial Service, Severus and Ginny made at breakfast together and made their way to the lounge room to find Tonks, Remus and Andromeda there. Tonks and Remus were holding what looked like identical letters with matching smirks on their faces. Remus looked up when he heard Ginny and Severus enter the room and grinned at them. He stood from his seat and walked over, holding out a letter to each of them.

"These arrived this morning." He told them, Severus took his and watched Ginny claim hers apprehensively. They had the official Ministry seal on the outside. Severus broke the seal and read the letter.

_Mr Severus Snape,_

_I write this letter to you today in order to let you know that the Ministry of Magic, together with the Order of Merlin have decided to award you an Order of Merlin, First Class. _

_This decision was made based on your services to promoting and protecting Wizard-Muggle relations. Your brave and selfless actions in the recent way against Evil have led us to believe that you are more than worthy of this honour._

_Your medal will be presented to you at the official Ministry Memorial Service for the Victims of the Final Battle which will be taking place a week from Sunday, at midday at Godric's Hollow Town Square. In addition to the medal you will receive the standard 10,000 Galleon cash prize as well as the Ministry of Magics eternal thanks and respect._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt_

_Minister of Magic_

For once in his life Severus was speechless. However, he hardly had time to ruminate on his conflicting feelings about this letter as he dropped the parchment in his hand in order to reach out and support Ginny as her knees gave way. With one arm supporting her back he slid the other under her knees and scooped her up, holding her close to him. Severus quickly took her over to the lounge and set her down gently upon it.

Her brown eyes met his overflowing with tears and emotion. She silently held her own letter out too him, her hands visibly shaking.

_Miss Ginevra Molly Weasley,_

_I write this letter to you today in order to let you know that the Ministry of Magic, together with the Order of Merlin request your presence at the official Ministry Memorial Service for the Victims of the Final Battle which will be taking place a week from Sunday, at midday at Godric's Hollow Town Square. _

_We have selected you to accept, on behalf of a number of people, the award of Order of Merlin. The awards are as follows;_

_Harry James Potter, Order of Merlin First Class, Posthumously _

_Molly Weasley, Order of Merlin First Class, Posthumously_

_Arthur Weasley, Order of Merlin First Class, Posthumously_

_Bill Weasley, Order of Merlin First Class, Posthumously_

_Charlie Weasley, Order of Merlin First Class, Posthumously_

_Percy Ignatius Weasley, Order of Merlin First Class, Posthumously_

_Fred Weasley, Order of Merlin First Class_

_George Weasley Order of Merlin First Class_

_Ronald Bilius Weasley Order of Merlin First Class_

_We are well aware of the sacrifices that your family members, Harry Potter, and yourself have made to maintain Wizard-Muggle relations. Their brave and selfless actions in the Final Battle will be remembered for generations to come. In addition to accepting a medal on behalf of each of these people you will be granted a 10,000 Galleon cash prize for each of those receiving the award posthumously. The prize money for Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Ronald Bilius Weasley will be deposited into an account that will be used to pay for any future needs of their which you, as their deputy, will be able to access on their behalf._

_We look forward to seeing you at the Ceremony to accept these accolades on behalf of your loved ones._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt_

_Minister of Magic_

Severus' own letter had fallen on the floor just by the door and now laid there forgotten. Instead, Severus Snape was completely focused on Ginevra's letter and what it had meant. She was still looking up at him, waiting to see his reaction.

"Well," Severus said gruffly "I suppose we have to go to the Memorial Service now." Despite the tears coursing down her face, Ginny's lips tilted into a small smile.

Ginny almost laughed at Severus' comment. His dark eyes watched her, filled with care and concern, and she was so thankful for his presence. She cursed herself for having such a weak reaction to the letter but she was so overwhelmed. A warm sense of pride swelled in her heart, only restrained by her despair at the loss of her family members. The fact that they were being awarded such an honour only felt right, yet it tore Ginny's heart out to think that they could not be there to accept it for themselves.

And Harry's Order of Merlin... Ginny had been asked to accept that as well. The knowledge that she would, now and for a long while yet, be viewed as Harry's fiancée made a mockery of her current feelings for Severus and also incited a nasty sense of guilt in her for taking so quickly to the arms of another.

In addition to the rare honour of the Order of Merlin there was the money. Merlin's beard- she had never heard of so much money in her life. Sixty thousand galleons for herself, and ten each for Fred, Ron and George meant that she would not need to worry about any of her financial woes for some time yet. One of her biggest concerns about deputyship was that she may not be able to afford to take care of her brothers, but the generous sums she and they had been granted meant that, for a long time, she would not have to worry.

The myriad of different thoughts in reaction to the letter warred for her attention and suddenly she felt incredibly tired. She slowly got to her feet, ignoring Severus' look of concern and excused herself from the room.

* * *

A/N: Hello everyone and thanks for your patience. In the crazy week just passed I nearly forgot about entirely! At the moment I am working on getting the next chapter (also the last) written and perfect, but hopefully should be posting it within the next two weeks.

Thanks to to the lovelies who reviewed; Dracoginnylover24, nagandsecv, circular-illumination, Miss Mia Gia, GinnyWeasleySnape and Slytherinjunkie20.

Until next chapter!

SinisterSpiders


	13. Closure

**Take These Broken Wings**

_By Sinister Spiders_

**Chapter Thirteen: **Closure

* * *

_The myriad of different thoughts in reaction to the letter warred for her attention and suddenly she felt incredibly tired. She slowly got to her feet, ignoring Severus' look of concern and excused herself from the room._

* * *

Four days later Ginny and Severus were waiting outside of the court room of the Civil Hall of Magical Justice. There were people rushing around as though they were late for wherever they had to go. On the outside, Ginny looked as though she was waiting patiently, but on the inside her mind was racing quicker than any of the people who flew by. The past four days had crept by very slowly. She had spent a good deal of her waking (and sleeping) hours trying to come to terms with all of the new truths that built up her life.

The Memorial Service was in just four days and she knew that she had to go. Being asked to accept the Order of Merlin awards for her family was a great honour and she could not refuse. She had spoken to Severus and Tonks of her fears about being under such intense public scrutiny but they had been incredibly supportive. Ginny would not be the only one to accept any accolades on that day, and Tonks and Severus had both offered to step in for her if she was too overwhelmed when the time came.

Ginny had also talked to Severus about the fact that they would be going to Godric's Hollow. Both of them were aware of the pain that the town held for the other. Ginny had suggested heading to the graveyard after the Memorial Service and after some initial resistance Severus had agreed to go with her. She was hoping that it would be helpful for him to see Lily's grave at last and allow her to rest peacefully in his heart.

Tomorrow morning, despite what the judgement was, Ginny had asked Severus to accompany her to Saint Mungo's. It had been well over a week since she had visited her brothers and she was feeling very bad about how she left. After talking to the healer she hadn't even gone in to say goodbye and it gnawed at her conscience. She originally intended to go that afternoon but Severus had wisely told her to wait. If she went today she would not be able to change the records because by the time court was out the Saint Mungo's administration staff would have gone home. It was also a good decision because she was already feeling so tired and emotional. She had barely slept a wink last night and knew she would be better off visiting her brothers with a good reserve of energy to fall back on.

* * *

Ginny heard heavy footsteps and looked up to see Harold Mulpepper walking towards them purposefully. The plan was to go over the details of how the hearing would go and what she would need to say one last time and then head in to the courtroom and wait to be heard. Severus gave her hand a firm squeeze as they rose to meet the Lawyer.

Severus had been pleasantly surprised at how quickly the hearing had gone once they had been called. The wait for Ginny's name to be called by the judge had been longer than the hearing, the judge apparently not having any wish to dispute her claim to deputyship.

He had known that the last week had been difficult for Ginny. First with their failed attempt at intimacy, then seeking a lawyer, and receiving news of the Order of Merlins. The past week hadn't been easy for him either. He had barely slept at all; plagued by the image of Ginny's naked breasts, her mouth around his arousal, the flush of her cheeks as he undressed her. When he did finally manage to fall asleep he was haunted by ghosts of his last meetings with Lily. Knowing that the day of the Memorial Service was fast approaching seemed to give his angst over losing Lily a final burst of energy and he had a growing sense of guilt about trying to let her go.

Severus had found that the best way of ridding himself of the gnawing guilt of finally getting over Lily was to spend more time with Ginny. When he was in her company he couldn't think of much else besides her. He had received replies to the letters he had sent requesting information on jobs at various institutions and had increasingly found himself wondering what taking each job would mean if he and Ginny decided to go ahead with their relationship. He didn't know how long it would be before Ginny could remove her engagement ring and confidently give herself to him, and him alone, or if she even would. But he wanted to be in a position where she would be able to find him at a minute's notice. That unfortunately ruled out a number of prestigious international universities and research centres but if it meant having her then it was a worthwhile sacrifice.

His depth of feeling for the Weasley girl still shocked him. When he had first started helping her through his pain he had intended nothing more than becoming a mentor of sorts to her. He had no idea that she would bring all of his heartache over Lily and his past to the surface, nor that she would be able to help sooth it in a way nothing else had. Even though he knew that his actions were now limited because of his affection for Ginny it didn't bother him as much as he had thought it would. She offered him things that he had thought had been well beyond his grasp for over a decade. Giving up his newly found bachelorhood seemed a small price to pay to keep her by his side.

Severus was distracted from his musing by the tinkling sound of Ginny's laughter. She was standing a few feet away from him, thanking Mulpepper for his assistance. In her hand she clutched the legal documents that were evidence of her deputyship. Her face was glowing with relief, her eyes swimming with a strange mixture of melancholy and happiness. He knew that being granted deputyship was a bittersweet moment for her, but he was very pleased with the outcome of the hearing. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how much this meant to her, having never been close to his own family, but the rare sound of her laughter and her genuine smile spoke volumes. He watched as she gave the Lawyer a quick hug in thanks and waved her final goodbye. She walked back over to him, hips swinging, her face wearing a smile that melted his heart of ice.

"Relieved, Ginevra?" He asked, she reached up and put her hands on either side of his face, pulling him down to her.

"Like you wouldn't believe." She whispered, hot breath against his skin, lips against his lips. She closed the final distance between them. Despite the sheer amount of people rushing by, the eyes that would undoubtedly fall upon them, the judging looks they would receive- she kissed him. He lost consciousness of everything but her and wrapped his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss. After a scarce few moments in the elysian allure of her affections the world slowly fell back into place around him.

"Let me take you out for dinner... Celebrate." he told her she smiled at him sweetly. He was not ready to return to the depressing Grimmauld Place just yet, not wanting to bring their exclusive time together to an end.

"Severus, please- you have taken me out so many times. I have no way to repay you." She said and he rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't a request Ginevra." He drawled, unable to resist the proximity of her lips he kissed her again.

Severus and Ginny went to a lovely restaurant in Diagon Alley for dinner. They spent their night talking about the hearing, their visit to Saint Mungo's tomorrow and the Memorial Service on Sunday. Even with the confidence gained in the dim lights of the cosy restaurant neither of them had brought up their possible future together. Severus had made reference to the various positions he was applying for to gauge Ginny's response but her own future career plans were too uncertain for him to gain any insight as to where he would be best off working.

Ginny had mentioned that, before the war, she had wanted to become a magizoologist. But the events of the war had given her new circumstances to consider. She was unwilling to move too far from London as she wanted to be close to her brothers, nor did she want to stay in Grimmauld Place for too much longer. Both she and Severus were conscious of the fact that Tonks and Remus deserved a private place to raise their family and wanted to respect that. Severus however, was unwilling to return to Spinner's end. It was a house that only held pain for him. When he was confident that the house would not be a target for any rogue Death Eaters looking for retribution, he intended to sell it.

* * *

The next morning after breakfast Severus and Ginny apparated to Saint Mungo's together. Ginny had been quiet at the table and Severus knew that she was incredibly nervous about how this visit would go. This time they bypassed the welcome witch (who was giving them a sharp look of disapproval) and took the elevators up to the Janus Thickey ward. It wasn't until they stepped out of the elevator that Ginny seemed to show signs of her apprehension. Despite this she continued on, head held high, to her brothers' room.

This time Cassius Boulstridge was there before them. He was sitting in a chair next to Fred and George talking to them quietly, even though they didn't seem to respond. Upon noticing their arrival Ron rose from his seat.

"Ginny!" He called and rushed over to hug his sister "You took long enough to come back!" He chastised. Ginny smiled and pulled away from him. Ronald looked over at Severus with obvious distaste. "Snape." He spat with a curt nod. "Why on earth didn't Harry come this time?" Ron asked. Severus watched Ginevra carefully, ready to go over to her if he needed to. He was proud to see that she remained strong, she had shown no outward sign of her distress and even managed a smile for her brother.

"He'll be around when he gets a chance." Her voice broke on the last word but she managed to keep the dam sealed on her emotions. There was a scraping of chair legs and they were distracted from their conversation as Healer Bolstridge made his way over. He held his hand out for Ginny to shake.

"Miss Weasley! What a pleasure to see you again." He shook her hand and flashed her a winning smile, blue eyes sparkling. Severus felt a pang of jealousy and clenched his teeth together. The younger man turned to him and shook his hand. "Miss Weasley, I have some other patients to see but if you want to have a chat just ask one of the nurses and they will point you in my direction."

The rest of the visit went much more smoothly than the first one had. Ginny had talked to Ron about Quidditch, her final year at Hogwarts and a number of other things. Severus noticed that whenever be brought up Harry or Hermione, Ginny subtly changed the topic. After talking to Ron she went over to spend some time with Fred and George. At first she had been awkward with them, not quiet knowing how to act around people who didn't react to her presence. Despite her initial discomfort Ginny had begun talking to them more confidently and when Ron excused himself to go to the loo she told them about their Order of Merlins and the deputyship.

While Ginny was spending time with her brothers Severus made his way to the ward common room and decided to flip through the current edition of the Daily Prophet, only to find nothing of note. After an hour Ginny came out and told him that she was done and wanted to see the Healer. Cassius was in his office looking though a mountain of paperwork.

"Ah, Ginny... Severus... Sit down, won't you?" He asked. Ginny and Severus sat in the same seats that they had occupied less than two weeks ago. "So, what would you like to talk about?" He asked, Severus looked at Ginny and could see that she had no idea where to begin.

"On Sunday the Ministry of Magic is holding a Memorial Ceremony for all those in the Final Battle, and the war in general. All three of my brothers have been awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class." Ginny explained with obvious pride, the healer nodded "I guessed that it would probably be best if we didn't take them... but I just wanted to double check with you." Healer Cassius frowned.

"Unfortunately I would have to agree with you." He said giving Ginny a sympathetic look "While it is a great honour, it would not be the best situation for them, Ron in particular. If he had acknowledged Harry and Hermione's deaths then I would suggest allowing him to go as he is still very functional- but considering his psychogenic amnesia, I don't think it would be wise. We are not sure if, or when, he will recover or have a breakdown- but it would be very risky taking him to a memorial."

"Fred and George, on the other hand, are highly likely to remain unresponsive even in such conditions. While I would say that they would be _able_ to go, you would most likely need to take a healer with you- which I am sure wouldn't be a problem. I would grant permission for this... But..." Cassius trailed off and Ginny looked at him eagerly. Severus wished that Ginny hung onto his every word like that. Cursing himself for his ridiculous thoughts he cast his eyes around the small office, taking in the various framed artworks on the walls.

"Considering it would be a public event we would need to take their dignity into account. If they were to go, I have no doubt there would be a swarm of nosey press and unabashedly curious citizens eager to stare at them and shoot questions at them. Even though they would remain unresponsive, it becomes an issue of their privacy and welfare that would be best left to their deputy." This time Cassius' eyes fell on Severus- a challenge, a question.

"I am their deputy now." Ginny said proudly, holding the paperwork she had brought up with her for the healer to see. Cassius was unable to keep the shock off his face.

"Less than a month" Severus drawled with a smirk "Less than two weeks, in fact." He added. Cassius regained his composure.

"Well, Ginny, you do work quickly." He said looking at Ginny as if seeing her in a new light. Ginny flushed under his gaze. "In which case, the ultimate decision about whether Ron, Fred, and George go is yours. If decide to take them just owl me and I can organise a healer to accompany you, but as I said..." He trailed off.

"No, thank you, that won't be necessary." Ginny replied. Severus could tell by the look on her face that this had been the outcome she had predicted. But he couldn't blame her for asking. "I have another question, though."

"Go ahead."

"Well, I was wondering if, at some stage, I could have my brothers live with me when I am set up." Ginny's voice wavered towards the end of the question.

Severus had not even considered the fact that Ginny would want to take her brothers out of the hospital. He was sure that the Burrow would be hers now that her parents had passed, and with a bit of work it could be repaired, so he had to admit that it did make sense.

"Fred and George- yes. But Ron? Not until he recovers." Cassius responded, clearly surprised by her question as well. "If you were to do that, you would then become responsible for their daily living costs. At the moment it is covered under the Department of Wizarding Health, but as soon as you take them out of here you will be liable for everything other than their medical fees. You would also be responsible for administering Fred and George's medication and bringing them to their appointments, unless you hired a private healer to assist you." Ginny nodded and stood slowly.

"Thank you for your time Healer Cassius." Ginny said formally, leaning over the desk and offering the man her hand to shake. "You have given me something to think about."

* * *

Saturday night crept up on the residents of Grimmauld Place with a dreadful sense of finality. Severus, Ginny, Tonks and Remus ate their dinner in silence while Andromeda was sleeping. They had all seen the article in the Daily Prophet that morning announcing the extensive list of speakers that would be appearing at the Memorial Service the next day, it had also made a mention that some survivors of the Final Battle, and the fiancée of the late Harry Potter were also expected to make an appearance. There was a second article describing, in graphic detail, the exhaustive preparations that had been made to accommodate the expected "record breaking crowd".

Ginny had told Remus and Tonks that she would take care of the dishes and they excused themselves from the kitchen, claiming that they were eager to get a decent sleep. However, all four of them knew that would be impossible. Ginny stood from the table and directed the dishes to wash, dry and return to their places while Severus carefully wiped down the benches and the table.

Even though Ginny and Severus had a million thoughts running through their minds they could not find the words to express them.

Severus desperately wanted to tell Ginny how he thought the Daily Prophet was disgusting for using her as a sideshow. He wanted to tell her that he would be there with her for every moment of the service. He wanted her to ask him how he felt about it so he could tell her how he dreaded the idea of visiting Lily's grave and accepting that she was gone- for ever.

Ginny wanted to ask Severus to stay with her in the lounge room again. She knew neither of them would sleep well. But given the nature of tomorrow she wanted to respect his right to privacy while he mentally prepared to visit Lily's grave. She wanted to tell him that she was glad he had decided to go- and had appreciated all of his support. But mostly, she wanted to beg him to run away with her. To France, or Bulgaria, or New Zealand- anywhere but here. She wanted him to whisk her away to a place where she could rewrite her personal history and start anew.

When they had finished cleaning Ginny walked towards Severus' open arms. She stood on her toes so that she could plant a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her firmly. He planted a kiss on her forehead before releasing her. And, without a single word, they went to their own rooms for a long and sleepless night.

* * *

The next morning the residents of Grimmauld Place gathered in the kitchen while Ginny cooked a hearty breakfast for them. Severus could see that she wasn't offended when they merely pushed their food around with their forks. They had each retreated to their rooms before agreeing to meet in the hall at eleven thirty to disapparate to Godric's Hollow.

At ten thirty Severus was ready to go. He sat in the lounge room, eyes skimming over page after page of one of his potions books, not taking a single word in. There was too much on his mind. He wasn't concerned about the Memorial Service. He was used to people staring at him. It was everything else that was plucking at his tightly strung nerves.

He was incredibly surprised that he would be granted the Order of Merlin. If it hadn't been for Ginny's sudden reaction to her own letter he would have laughed and screwed the letter up. He didn't to any of it for recognition. He did it to protect Lily's son. Even though Harry's death would be classed as a gross failure on his part, Severus consoled himself with the fact that Harry had been able to take Voldemort down with him. After Harry's death he had found himself without a purpose. For the past two decades he had been living for other people's reasons. On other people's terms. When Harry had died and signalled the end of Severus' debt to Lily he had inadvertently latched himself onto the closest thing to Harry Potter... Ginevra Weasley.

Two months ago, if he had thought of her, he would have remembered her cheek in potions class. He would have remembered seeing her score a goal against Slytherin- dashing their hopes to win the Quidditch Cup. He would have seen Ginevra as a young girl surrounded by a swarm of red-headed Weasleys.

Now, he couldn't help but think of her soft lips, the gentle curve of her spine at the small of her back. He now thought of her not as a young girl, but a young woman. She had grown and matured so much since the war started.

When he had begun to help her it was for completely innocent reasons. Part of it was because he felt that she held the possible continuation of his debt to Lily, and the other part was because he knew her pain and did not want her to waste her life mourning for her lost lover. As their relationship developed he knew that they both saw the possibility of a future in each other. As much as he thought he would hate being tied to another so soon he found that the mere thought of being without her made him wonder what was left for him.

"Oh Severus!" Tonks sighed in relief as she rushed into the room holding a squirming Andromeda in her arms. "Thank Merlin- can you please hold on to Andy for me so I can fix my hair... I just can't get it to behave." Tonks held the little mousy haired baby out to him expectantly. Her normally pink hair was raven black with hundreds of streaks of pure white through it. Severus had no idea what she had intended to do with her locks but he definitely agreed they needed fixing.

"Where's Remus?" Severus asked, he hadn't held the infant since he first met her in the hospital, which was fine by him. He had never been partial to babies so he had never asked to hold her since.

"In the shower- please Severus, I have so much to do before we go!" The urgency in her tone made Severus hold his arms out, despite his reluctance. He had no idea why she was in such a rush- they had an entire hour before they had to leave and she and Andromeda were dressed.

"Thank you so much!" Tonks said, depositing the baby in his arms and rushing out of the room. When she had noticed that her mother had disappeared Andromeda stopped wriggling and looked at the door sadly, wondering where her beloved mother had gone.

"Well," Said Severus, shifting Andromeda so that her tiny head was cradled carefully in the crook of his arm "This is an interesting situation." He looked down at her and couldn't restrain a tiny smile.

Severus envied Andromeda. He really did. To be brought up by two loving parents in a world free from Voldemort. Saying that, Severus had no doubt that another evil wizard or witch would crop up again soon, after all- before Voldemort there was Grindewald. However, he was optimistic that this little witch in his arms would not have to see so much pain and suffering in her life time.

Severus was lost in his own thoughts for some time before a small smile from Andromeda broke his concentration. He looked down at her as though she were a different baby to the one he had just been holding. He didn't know Andromeda had learnt to smile yet. His black eyes locked on her brown ones and he felt himself drowning in the wonderful curiosity and innocence of her. She smiled again, but this time he couldn't concentrate on that glorious little face- instead he was watching, transfixed, as her mousy brown hair slowly- almost imperceptibly- darkened to a black that matched his own.

"TONKS!" He called, quickly getting to his feet. "TONKS!" He repeated louder this time. He couldn't believe it! Andromeda was just like her mother. He had heard Tonks and Remus wondering last night whether she would be a metamorpmagus. In his rush to find Nymphadora he almost collided with her as she ran to see why he was calling her.

"Holy bloody Merlin!" Tonks cried when she recovered from the shock of the near-collision. She gingerly took her daughter from Severus and looked between the two, noting the remarkable similarity between their hair. Severus noticed that Tonks' own hair had changed to the same dull tone it was when she was pining over Remus a few years back

Tonks took her daughter and ran down the hallway calling out for Remus. Severus watched Nymphadora's retreating back as she climbed the stairs. Any doubt of whether Amdromeda should be his god daughter fled from his mind, replaced by a comforting sense of rightness.

* * *

The world spun into place and Ginny felt the hard cobblestones of Godric's Hollow beneath her feet. She looked ahead, expecting to see the statue of the Potter's in the middle of the town square but instead, her eyes met one side of an enormous white tent about forty feet away from her. This wasn't the Godric's Hollow she knew. She was used to seeing the statue, seeing happy families leisurely crossing the cobbled square together with brown-paper-wrapped packages tucked under their arms. The presence of the massive tent filled her with a dreadful sense of foreboding and she felt her stomach drop. This wasn't right. She had a sudden urge to escape this foreign place.

Three loud pops sounded and she looked to her side, taking in the appearance of Severus, Tonks, and Remus putting a damper on her flight reflex. The three of them now focused on the huge tent in front of them and Ginny turned her gaze back in that direction. Now that she was thinking more clearly she noticed a number of formally dressed people dashing around outside of it, all talking in hushed tones. She desperately wanted to reach out and grab Severus' hand. She could sense him beside her, he had apparated to a spot a mere hairsbreadth away from her.

"Shall we go in?" Remus' uncertain voice came from her right. Without any response the four of them, Andromeda in Tonks' embrace, begun their to make their way to the entrance of the tent. As they approached the people rushing about all slowed to a stop, staring at the newcomers with undisguised curiosity. Ginny stole a quick glance in Severus' direction and noticed that he was looking past all of their observers into the tent, as though he knew that his worst enemy was being held inside. She could see a storm of emotion raging behind his normally unreadable eyes and she quickly looked away, not wanting to invade his private turmoil any further.

There were a few shouts from the people ahead of them and one in response from inside the tent. A few seconds later, Kingsley Shacklebolt emerged, looking resplendent in set of deep purple dress robes, the medals of his office gleaming proudly on his chest. With a sad smile he closed the distance between them quickly and Ginny, Severus, Remus and Tonks stopped in their tracks.

"Good day to you all." He said is his deep silken voice. "I am very pleased that you four were able to make it. I know how difficult it must be for you to be here today. We all lost a great deal in the war against Voldemort..." Kingsley trailed of as he observed the sombre looks on their faces, they nodded at him in acknowledgement but remained silent. He didn't seem offended that they hadn't replied to his warm welcome. After a few moments his eyes settled decidedly on Ginny.

"Ginny," he begun softly "I know that this is not the best timing, but I wish to speak to you. In private. There are a few matters that I want to discuss with you. I was going to write to you but I wanted to talk to you in person."

"We'll wait inside." Remus said, taking his wife's arm and heading walking off slowly leaving Ginny with Kingsley and Severus.

"I..." Severus begun looking between Kingsley and Ginny "I will be waiting inside too." Before he could turn to leave Ginny cast him a desperate glance, eyes pleading with him to stay. Although she was acquainted with Kinglsey she knew very little about him and had no wish to be alone with him as multiple witches and wizards watched on interestedly from a distance.

Kingsley looked between the two of them, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. After a moment he regained his composure.

"Very well then," he said stiffly, clearly baffled by Ginny's need to have the dour potions master and Death Eater there. Ginny let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding and took a small step closer to Severus. Kingsley continued.

"When a witch or wizard dies, and in the absence of a Last Will and Testament, it is up to the Ministry of Magic to decide how their assets will be distributed." Kingsley looked at Ginny with sympathy in his eyes "Due to my connection with, and loyalty to, the Order of the Phoenix I volunteered to personally oversee the execution of the estates of those who fell in the Final Battle. In this regard, it is my responsibility to inform you of the inheritance owing to you." Kingsley paused for a moment and let this sink in. Ginny's head was spinning and every breath was a struggle. As the words whizzed through her mind her heart quickly filled with despair at the finality of it all.

"In light of your Parent's passing, the Ministry of Magic has decided to grant their estate and belongings to yourself, and your brothers, in equal share. As you are their deputy you are responsible for all of it. The Deed to The Burrow and the paperwork for the transfer of their Gringotts account will be owled to you within the next few days."

Ginny nodded mutely and a tear slid down her cheek. She felt Severus' hand come down to rest on her shoulder and she focused on that point of physical contact. That anchor. She looked up at Kingsley.

"Thank you." She said and she turned to leave.

"There is one more thing." The words stopped her dead in her tracks. What more could there possible be? Her parents were gone, her brothers were either dead or insane, her fiancée and best friend were dead. She spun around on the spot and she felt every one of her barriers topple. This was all too much.

"What is it?" She asked looking at the man imploringly, wanting nothing more than to get this ceremony over with so she could go back to her room in Grimmauld Place and curl up on her bed.

"There is also the matter of the deeds and belongings of Harry Potter." Ginny's knees became week and she reached out to Severus for support. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I don't want it." She whispered and Kingsley ignored her.

"Myself, and a number of other members of my office believe that, as Harry's fiancée, you are entitled to his belongings." Ginny shook her head fiercely.

"I don't want them." She said, louder this time and she felt Severus' arm tense around her. "Any of them." Kingsley let out a small sigh.

"When we refer to what Harry left behind we mean his house in this town, his Gringott's account and his personal effects. If you won't have them what would you have us do with them Ginny?" He asked her and she closed her eyes, wishing that she could cast a silencing charm around her.

"I- I don't know." She admitted.

"Look," Kinglsey said kindly "Just accept them for now, until you know what to do with them." Ginny shook her head fiercely.

"No. I don't want anything to do with any of it. I was with Harry because I loved him. Not his possessions... I don't want- I can't deal with that. Just distribute it as you see fit." Ginny said pleadingly.

"We already have, Ginny, and we decided that it is all yours..." Kinsgley frowned and stared at her in silence as though waiting for her to reconsider. Ginny sighed.

"Split his money between Hogwarts and Saint Mungos, allow Remus Lupin to sort through his possessions and keep what he wants, and then leave Godrics Hollow standing, intact, as a sign of the ravages of the god-forsaken war." Ginny said rubbing her eyes. Kingley looked at her for a few moments, clearly not happy with Ginny's decision but he eventually nodded in acquiescence and excused himself, disappearing quickly into the stream of witches and wizards heading towards the tent.

* * *

The service passed for Ginny in a rush of half-heard words and camera flashes. She numbly accepted the Order of Merlins for her family and Harry at the same time as Severus, Remus, Tonks and others received theirs, glad to have them standing so close to her while she was in front of the sea of people. Ginny wasn't exactly sure when she had started crying, she had no idea of which part of the ceremony had encouraged the rogue tears to fall. Her entire body was filled with loss and longing, and one look around the gigantic tent showed her that she misery truly did love company.

As soon as the service ended person after person filed past expressing their deepest sympathy and condolences. Ginny did not recognise a single face and was sure that even if she saw these people again the following day she would not remember any of them. A warm hand on the small of her back made her turn to see Severus standing stoical beside her. She smiled at him and then returned her attentions to the people who wanted to talk to her. The subtle feeling of his hand on her was comforting in a way beyond anything she could describe.

When the tide of well-wishers finally subsided Ginny turned to Severus and he frowned at her.

"Did you still want to go to the graveyard?" he asked and she knew that he wanted her to say no. She had stolen glances at him during the ceremony and she could see the emotions in the depth of his black eyes. Where Ginny had cried, Severus had tensed and his face had become even more unreadable. His entire demeanour became closed as he dealt with his internal struggle.

While Ginny would have loved to rush back to Grimmauld Place and crawl into her bed but she knew that she needed to visit the graveyard and get closure. She knew she would not relax until she had a chance to see Harry's final resting place and pay her respects to her departed lover. She knew that, for Severus particularly, the process of mourning had felt so long that they both needed to say goodbye so that they could move on with their lives.

Ginny grabbed Severus' hand and led him towards the door in the tent that would take them to the Graveyard in Godric's Hollow.

First, he could see the church, after that the fence line, and then the gravestones peeking from behind the stone fence. Every step closer to the graveyard became harder to take. Each and every muscle in his body screamed in agony, his mind clawed at his skull and his body was hypersensitive to the point of pain. The closer Severus got to the burial site of Lily Evans, the more he felt as though the air around him thickened and the more effort he had to put into moving forward. If it wasn't for Ginny's hand around his own, leading him towards their destination, he would have turned and ran as far and fast as he could.

Ginny hesitated at the graveyard gate for what seemed like an eternity before she stepped over to the other side. She turned and looked at Severus, her brown eyes encouraging. Her long red hair was being blown about by the wind and to Severus she appeared as an angel. A cascade of memories of his time with Ginny reeled through his mind, and his skin tingled with the memories of her affection. He took a deep, painful breath and braced himself before stepping through the gate into a place of longing and despair.

Severus did not need to look for Lily's grave. He already knew where it was. He felt a strong magnetic force pulling him towards the luminous white marble marker. When he finally stood in front of the gravestone his legs gave way and he fell to his knees on the grass. His entire body screamed with the exertion of getting to this point.

_Lily Potter nee Evans_

_30__th__ of January, 1960 – 31__st__ of October 1981_

"_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."_

Arm shaking, Severus brought his fingers up to trace the letters of Lily's name on the lifeless stone. His body convulsed and he was wracked with sobs. All of the emotion that he had buried in his years of mourning surged out as in violent wave. The world fell away from around him and he was conscious of nothing but his overwhelming sense of loss.

* * *

It wasn't until the sun begun to retreat beyond the surrounding buildings and the air grew chilly that Severus finally got to his feet. Despite his exhaustion, he felt invigorated. It felt as though he had shed the constant weight that he had been carrying on his shoulders and, in himself, he finally felt some sort of closure- he knew that from this moment on his memories of Lily would no longer torment him.

Severus looked around and he located Ginny sitting by a new looking gravestone at the back of the cemetery. He watched as she took a deep breath and slipped her engagement ring off her finger. She placed the gold ring on the grass in front of her and took her wand out of her pocket. She waved her wand in small circles above the ring, and ever so slowly, it sunk seamlessly into the ground below. Severus knew that it would now – and forever more- rest with Harry Potter.

When Ginny was satisfied that her ring was where it should be she got to her feet and wiped the tears from her eyes. She turned to see Severus waiting by Lily and James' grave and smiled.

Together, Ginny and Severus returned to Grimmauld Place, before saying goodnight and going their separate ways.

* * *

Severus rubbed his gritty eyes and sighed as he lay in his bed waiting for sleep to come. Despite his new sense of freedom from his past he still felt as though something were missing, and that thought was keeping sleep at bay.

Finally, after all of these years, he felt a sense of closure. He knew for a fact that he would no longer wake up in the middle of the night, covered in cold sweat, because of his betrayal of Lily. He had finally had a chance to lay her memory to rest and with it his extreme sense of guilt and self-hatred.

Severus knew that his relationship with Ginny was to thank for the recent developments in his life. He had made more progress in a short few months with Ginny than he did in more than fifteen years by himself. It amazed him that, in helping her, he had been inadvertently helping himself. His experience with her had shown him what true strength and resilience looked at and Severus was genuinely surprised that someone so young was able to teach him anything about life.

Severus was roused from his musing as he heard a soft rapping on his door.

"Enter." He called and his door creaked open. He could see Ginny's silhouette from the dim light emanating from the tip of her wand. She stepped over the threshold and his breath caught at the sound of her soft footsteps coming closer to his bed. Her long red hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders, framing her beautiful pale face.

"It's lonely in my room." She whispered, her words caressing his tired mind tenderly. Without a word he folded his blankets back and she slipped into his bed. The mattress sagged under her weight and for once the thought of her in his bed did not set his hormones into action. Instead, his heart warmed with the knowledge of her affection.

Black eyes met brown as Ginny rested her head beside his on his pillow. Her hand came up, soft finger stroking his face. He clasped her hand with his own and brushed a gentle kiss across her fingertips. With a content sigh Ginny wiggled closer to him, her knees touching his. She smiled at him and closed her eyes taking a deep breath.

Suddenly, Severus felt extremely tired. A sense of completion washed over him and he smiled, knowing what had been missing all along. It was barely a few minutes before the world started swimming around him and he could no longer focus on the gentle lines of Ginny's face. But just before he reached that wonderful state of unconscious sleep Ginny's voice wafted through his mind.

"I think I am falling in love with you." She whispered, he managed a smile before slipping off to into a restful dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next morning Severus woke before the sun. He froze in place as he felt a warm body curled against his own. His eyes sprung open to see bright red hair barely an inch from his face. His hands were caught in Ginny's and every possible inch of his body was pressed against hers.

Half formed memories of her coming to his bed the night before leaked into his consciousness, and a sense of warmth filled him as he remembered her sleepy confession.

"I know I have fallen in love with you." He whispered as softly as possible. Ginny stirred in his arms and he was suddenly very aware that his normal morning problem was firmly pressed against her. Ginny's hips pressed back onto him and he bit his lip to hold in a moan not wanting to wake her just in case she was readjusting. Slowly, she turned in his embrace so she was facing him.

Her brown eyes met his.

"Good morning." She whispered, voice hoarse with sleep.

"Yes... it is." He responded making her smile sleepily. Ever so slowly she inched her lips closer to his and he held his breath. When their lips made contact his body exploded with need. He brought his hand up and tangled it in her hair, forcing her face closer to his, his lips harder against hers.

Ginny pulled away and their eyes met, in them he could see his desire reflected, the contact sending sparks through the both of them. Without any warming Ginny pushed him on his back and straddled him, her body pressing against his erection. She leant down and put her lips against his softly.

"I want you." She whispered, lips vibrating against his own. "Severus- I want _you_.".

With a growl Severus gripped her shoulders and flipped them so that he was on top of her, he brought his knee between her legs, parting them so he could settle into place before crushing his lips against hers.

Ginny moaned as Severus pulled her nightgown over her head and cast it aside. He brought his mouth down to her breasts as he used one hand to support him while the other removed her underwear and his pyjama pants.

Now free of their clothing his hard length was pressed up against her warmth. He could feel the moistness of her desire against him and grinded against her, her back arched and she moaned. He pulled away and he looked at her, both were breathing heavily, faces flushed with desire.

"I love you." She said softly. It was all the motivation he needed to pull back slightly before positioning himself at her entrance and entering her with one smooth thrust. The feeling of finally being wrapped in her tight wetness was only eclipsed by the warmth that flooded him when he recalled her confession.

At first his thrusts were slow but firm, kissing her neck as moved inside her. Her moans grew faster as his attentions became more fevered, but he was caught off guard when she suddenly pushed him back so she was on top of him again.

He watched in a pleasure that bordered on pain as she threw her head back, her muscles tightening around him, he loved the feel of her fingers clawing his chest as she rode an orgasm out on him, calling his name in the peak of her pleasure. He himself was so close, but he used every drop of restraint he had to hold on as she rode out not one, but two more orgasms before she collapsed against him, chest heaving with the efforts. He wrapped his arms around her as she took a few moments to catch her breath before the pressure of her core so tight around him became too intense to ignore. He flipped her onto her back and drove himself into her mercilessly, making her cry out his name, her fingernails drawing hot, red lines down his back. It was not long before his bone-jarring thrusts turned into a roaring explosion. He threw his head back and cried out as his hot seed flooded into her.

A few minutes later he very reluctantly withdrew from her and collapsed beside her. Severus pulled Ginny's body against his own and held her tight.

Ginny smiled as she rested her head on Severus' bare chest. All sense of sadness chased away by the love and pleasure in their joining. Even though she had lost Harry and most of her family she knew, for a fact, that things would turn out alright. Severus had helped her to pick up the pieces of her broken life, he had helped her to rise from the ashes of her past, but most importantly; she knew that they would build a happy future... together.

An hour later the eager sun peered through a small gap in the curtains, waking them up for the second time that day.

* * *

**A/N:** So that is it! Thank you all for coming so far and sharing your thoughts on this story with me, this has been a long time in the making but I am so pleased that it is finally finished, the story has been told and I can rest happy knowing that I have finished something I have started. I hope that you all enjoyed the last chapter of this story.

After this semester at uni is finished (November) I will pick up "A Trust Beyond Reason" and hopefully get that finished before I post a new story that I am working on which is Deathly Hallows compliant/cannon with the exception that it will contain a GW/SS pairing.

Also I am looking for someone to beta-read a short-fic (started as a one shot but will most likely have to be slip into two chapters). It is a GW/SS (as usual) and takes place some time during the Deathly hallows. If anyone would like to volunteer to look over grammar, spelling and stuff and give me feedback I would really appreciate it!

Until next fic,

XOXO

Sinister Spiders


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